Prince Edward Island table stock potato imports from Canada will continue in the United States.
The U.S. and Canada reportedly better understand the risks of potato imports from Prince Edward Island, according to a March 24 Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service news release.
"USDA bases all our agricultural trade decisions on sound science," Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said in the release. "We are confident that table stock potatoes can enter the United States with appropriate safeguards in place to ensure the U.S. potato industry remains protected."
The release reported APHIS plans to create further regulations on potatoes from Canada to insulate the American potato industry. The choice by the USDA is that exports of potatoes from Prince Edward Island for consumption can only resume under specific conditions that will create minor risks of bringing potato wart disease into the U.S. Potato wart decreases yield and marketability and has no cure.
It will now be mandated that imported potatoes from Prince Edward Island and the seed potatoes used to grow them must originate from fields not yet known to be infested with potato wart or associated with known infestations, the release reported. Potatoes must be washed in Prince Edward Island to dispose of soil, treated with a sprout inhibitor and graded to meet the U.S. standards. Shipments must be formally inspected by the NPPO of Canada and certified as meeting USDA requirements.
The USDA promised the public APHIS will go on to work with Canada to improve confidence in its long range management strategy for potato wart.
