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Tu i Teraz

04/06/2004 21:26:53

Polish potatoes to be monitored by UK fitosanitary inspectors

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – published a notice on monitoring Ring Rot risk in Polish Potatoes. All imports of potatoes from Poland must be notified to the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate at least two days in advance of arrival.

This will increase protection against the risk of potato ring rot entering this country, by enabling Inspectors to monitor the potatoes on arrival and take samples as necessary to ensure they are free from ring rot.

Since 1 May it has been possible for the first time for Polish potatoes to be traded with other EU member states. Although Poland has made good progress in implementing plant health legislation, there remain concerns about the ring rot situation in Poland. As a consequence, the Polish authorities have introduced measures on a voluntary basis requiring that all consignments of potatoes being traded with other member states are tested for ring rot and that member states of destination are notified prior to the despatch of such consignments.

According to the Department's statement, Defra welcomes these measures, but is introducing a statutory notification requirement to supplement the Polish measures and facilitate effective monitoring and enforcement. During the initial period following accession, enhanced testing of all consignments of Polish potatoes will be carried out on their arrival to assess the level of risk associated with this trade. The results of such testing will help to determine whether additional measures need to be considered, or whether Polish potatoes represent no greater risk than potatoes from other EU sources.