Potato warts were found in a field on Prince Edward Island last week, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed.
It was found in a field adjacent to one where potato wart was found in October 2021, leading to a CFIA ban on US potato shipments in November 2021.
Shipments of table potatoes resumed in April, but seed potatoes, which make up about 10 percent of the Island’s annual production, are still banned in the US and the rest of Canada, pending the results of a more in-depth investigation.
“Last week, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency laboratory in Charlottetown detected the presence of potato warts in a field as part of its ongoing investigations related to the October 2021 and February 2022 openings,” a CFIA spokesperson said in a statement to CBC .
“The discovery was from a field that is adjacent to where a potato wart was discovered in October 2021. The field is owned by a farm that produces processed potatoes for use in PEI”
CFIA collected more than 17,000 soil samples from March 5 to June 30, and testing of these samples continues. The discovery of a case of potato wart was not unexpected during the investigation, the agency said.
“This finding shows that the investigative process is working and is an important part of ensuring the health of our crops and protecting access to export markets.” We will update this finding on our website as part of our quarterly updates with the next update in October 2022.”
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