The PEI potato industry is pleased with the thoroughness of the International Advisory Panel (IAP) on the Potato Wart report and the Panel’s key findings that “Given the limited presence of the pathogen, the IAP considers most parts of PEI outside the Regulated Fields as a PFA (pest free area) for Synchitrium Endobioticum.”

The final report of the International Advisory Panel (IAP) on Potato Wart was given to industry and government on January 16, 2023. The panel was established in 2022 by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) as a follow-up to the discovery of potato warts in Prince Edward Island (PEI) in October 2021.

World-famous authorities on potato wart from Germany, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, and New Zealand made up the panel. The major goal of the Panel was to get input from renowned specialists on potato wart testing, diagnosis, surveillance, and management. To certify potatoes for export abroad, the experts also looked at whether current wart management practices adhere to international standards.

This finding is significant because the Ministerial Order issued by the federal government in November 2021 declared that potato wart was “infested” throughout the province of Prince Edward Island. This report now shows that this claim was overreaching and deceptive, offending PEI farmers and being accompanied by strict restrictions.

The IAP assessment also verified that PEI has been pest-free since 2000 thanks to general and targeted surveillance efforts that have met international standards. Fresh potatoes should not be moved from an area where a soil-borne pest, such as potato wart or PCN, has been discovered without first washing the potatoes and applying a sprout inhibition solution.

“The PEI Potato Industry believes that Ottawa must accept the findings of the expert report it commissioned and start work immediately, in collaboration with the province and industry, to lift unnecessary restrictions on farms with no connection to potato wart and implement science-based recommendations to contain and eventually eradicate the pest. PEI potato growers should not have to spend another season dealing with unnecessary restrictions due to government over-reach,” John Visser, Chair of the PEI Potato Board, mentioned.

The International Panel visited PEI for a week in August 2022, taking part in face-to-face information sessions, and touring potato farms for seed, table, and processing, as well as the CFIA testing facility and nearby processing facilities. The panelists personally witnessed the CFIA’s soil sample procedures as well as its cleaning and disinfection procedures when moving equipment from restricted fields. The seminar gave the specialists a comprehensive overview of tuber surveillance programs as well as the management of PEI fields under the Potato Wart Long Term Management Plan.

This past fall, several virtual follow-up calls were held for clarification of Island procedures and rules. The final report contains advice on the application of international standards to preserve the pest-free status, recommendations to improve the management of regulated fields, and indicated areas for further research.

The Panel’s report concluded that PEI may continue to be referred to as a place where the pest, Synchitrium Endobioticum, is “Present, not widely distributed, and under official control” following International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures 8 even though there are only a few potato wart-infested fields there (less than 0.6% of the potato land over the 22 years since the first detection) (Determination of Pest Status in an area).

In many parts of the world, resistant potato types play a significant role in the management and control of potato wart, and they will play a bigger role in PEI in the future. To help grow the pool of resistant varieties available to Island potato growers, research is being conducted in collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to identify genetic markers for resistance and conduct field screening at plots in Newfoundland and Labrador, which has been under quarantine since 1909 due to the presence of potato wart.