New Rules for Controlling Potato Wart Disease
Official title: Share your thoughts: proposed new National Potato Wart Response Plan
Why This Matters
If you grow, pack, or process potatoes in Canada, these rules directly affect your operations. Potato wart can devastate crops and trigger trade restrictions. The disease has caused major disruptions for PEI potato farmers in recent years. Even if you just eat potatoes, disease outbreaks can affect prices and availability.
What Could Change
A new National Potato Wart Response Plan will replace the existing long-term management plan. It introduces a "viability confirmation" status and a "field of concern" classification for affected areas. These changes could mean stricter controls on potato movement from infected regions.
Key Issues
- Are the proposed measures for containing and controlling potato wart effective?
- How should the new "viability confirmation" status and "field of concern" classification be applied?
- What improvements are needed to prevent the spread of potato wart?
How to Participate
- Review the proposed National Potato Wart Response Plan to understand the new measures.
- Send your feedback by email to cfia.potatosection-sectiondespommesdeterre.acia@inspection.gc.ca with "National Potato Wart Response Plan" in the subject line.
What Happened
The consultation closed on January 6, 2025. The CFIA gathered feedback from potato farmers, processors, industry associations, government partners, and the public to finalize the National Potato Wart Response Plan.