The ongoing fallout of potato wart in Prince Edward Island has led to the formation of a new multi-stakeholder working group.
The first meeting of the Government-Industry Potato Working Group, held Nov. 24, was recently organized by the federal government. The member list spans Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Global Affairs Canada, provincial government of P.E.I., the PEI Potato Board, potato processors and both seed and processing potato producers.
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According to an AAFC release, initial talks have covered CFIA actions “to gather the scientific evidence needed to assure their U.S. counterpart agency, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), of the safety of trade of table and processing potatoes.”
The CFIA hopes its next talks with APHIS can be scheduled for the second week of December, the release added.
Even without local impact in Manitoba, restrictions on potatoes from P.E.I. have sparked general concern from the potato industry nationwide.
P.E.I.’s potato sector is still reeling under a trade suspension of fresh P.E.I. potatoes bound for the U.S. That suspension has been in place as of Nov. 21, a few weeks after potato wart — a soil-borne fungal disease that causes cauliflower-like tuber growths that later rot — was reported in two P.E.I. fields.
Federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced the U.S. trade restriction, along with new rules around the movement of equipment and other biosecurity measures.
The suspension was meant to head off a trade ban against fresh P.E.I. potatoes threatened by the U.S., Bibeau’s office said at the time.
Both the provincial government of P.E.I. and potato sector expressed dismay at the restrictions.
The new trade restrictions came only months after the U.S. border reopened to P.E.I.’s potato sector. Trade also ground to a halt following a separate potato wart finding in October of last year. Borders reopened this March.
Among other things, the PEI Potato Board argued that both infected fields in 2021 were part of a surveillance program and already had limits on where produce could be moved.
In the Nov. 26 release, Bibeau called for unity.
“Until we can assure the United States of the safety of our potatoes, it is imperative we work together to seek all possible solutions to resolve this issue and limit impacts on our farmers,” she said. “The United States has made it very clear that if we restarted issuing export certificates right now, they would immediately sign a federal order that would have extremely damaging consequences for our farmers.”
She added that she is “confident that with the Potato Working Group, we will find our way through these challenges and get farmers the help they need.”
The group’s next work will be a continued assessment of impact to the potato sector, as well as finding routes for P.E.I. potatoes already in storage to be sold and processed, the Nov. 26 release from AAFC said.
