Collins, King Urge USDA Action to Protect America’s Potato Crops

Washington D.C.— U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King joined 16 of their Senate colleagues in sending a bipartisan letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack expressing their serious concerns about the potential of potato wart spreading from potato imports originating from Canada’s Prince Edward Island (PEI). In the letter, the Senators urged for the implementation of additional mitigation measures to prevent introduction into the United States.

Potato wart is a highly destructive disease that can spread via infected potatoes and soil, reduce crop yields, and make potatoes unmarketable domestically or internationally. There is currently no treatment available to eliminate it from contaminated farmland where it can persist in the soil for decades. 

“If potato wart should enter the United States, our farmers and the communities they support will be economically devastated,” the Senators wrote. “Given that twenty percent of our potato crop—valued at over $2 billion—is exported, we cannot allow introduction of a disease that would shut off access to international markets, and also curtail domestic production and sales.” 

Despite current USDA regulations identifying soil testing as the most effective tool to detect potato wart, the USDA does not require testing of PEI fields prior to potatoes being cleared for export to the U.S. In order to protect this crucial American crop and those who depend on it for salary or sustenance, the senators urged the USDA to take swift action to mitigate the potato wart risk associated with imports from PEI by taking three actions: 

1. Restrict bulk shipments into the United States to smaller-size packages: Bulk shipments of potatoes into the United States are often broken down into smaller sizes at intermediate facilities within the United States prior to being shipped across the country. During this repacking process, a substantial amount of waste is generated, which can then transmit the potato wart disease. USDA should limit these large bulk shipments to smaller sizes (20 pounds or less), so that any waste that occurs during the repacking process is significantly retained in Canada.
2. Limit large retail shipments and ensure consumers know they are for consumption rather than cultivation: The U.S. potato industry is concerned that sales of retail (table stock) potatoes may result in consumers unknowingly planting infected potatoes in home gardens, without proper mitigation strategies, and unintentionally spreading potato wart. USDA should limit retail shipments to consumer pack sizes and take steps to ensure the American public is fully informed of the risks associated with cultivation.
3. Control the waste generated by processing facilities: Potato processing generates a significant amount of waste product, which, again, can transmit the potato wart disease. Any processing facilities using PEI potatoes should operate under the supervision of USDA and include the treatment of biohazard waste. Such compliance agreements should prohibit the conversion of waste potatoes into livestock feed, because the process could embed potato wart into agricultural land. 

In addition to Collins and King, the letter was signed by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mike Crapo (R-ID), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), James Risch (R-ID), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), John Fetterman (D-PA), John Hoeven (R-ND), Jon Tester (D-MT), Steve Daines (R-MT), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), John Boozman (R-AR), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Patty Murray (D-WA). 

The complete text of the letter can be read here. 

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