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CFIA lays out process for new potato wart management plan

During the Potato Association of America Certification Section Meeting in Washington, D.C. at the beginning of December, representatives from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced its process for developing, finalizing and implementing plans to mitigate the risk of spreading P.E.I. potato wart to the United States.

Over the next year, the agency expects to complete a review of the risk management documents, draft a replacement for the current long-term management plan, finalize a new long-term management plan and negotiate a change in import regulations with USDA APHIS.

“Based on the comment periods and time it will take to review and write new planning documents, we are looking at January 2025 at a minimum before implementation begins on the CFIA side,” says National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles. “January 2025 will be more than three years after the current crisis began in November 2021. That’s three years before any durable changes will be made by the federal government in Canada or by USDA in order to mitigate this ongoing risk. In the meantime, potatoes from PEI continue to be shipped to the U.S. without any additional measures in place to address the threat APHIS has identified.”

The documents will be made available to the public Dec. 4 here.