New APHIS Restriction Affects Imports of Soil and Certain Agricultural Goods from Quebec (French)

Issue 525, August 24, 2006

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced that it is prohibiting/restricting the entry of potatoes and certain other products from the province of Quebec due to the detection of the golden nematode, a serious pest of potatoes that could endanger U.S. agriculture.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency yesterday confirmed the presence of the pest in a 30-acre field on a farm east of Montreal, Quebec. Although the nematode does not pose a risk to human health, it is considered to be potentially more dangerous to potato crops than other potato pests. The golden nematode can significantly affect the yields of potatoes and other host crops.

To prevent the spread of the nematode to the United States, agriculture officials are placing a prohibition on the importation of potatoes for seed, consumption and processing from the Province of Quebec and requiring that other restricted articles from Quebec be free from soil. Potato products that are already processed in Quebec prior to export will not be affected by these restrictions. A list of the restricted articles can be found at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/ispm/nematode/

Mechanical cultivating equipment, harvesting equipment and other conveyances that present a risk of spreading the nematode must also be free of soil.

An agricultural inspector at Customs & Border Protection (CBP) states this prohibition will affect imports of soil and potted plants (containing soil) from Quebec. For imports of these products from non-prohibited Canadian provinces, the import documentation needs to reflect where in Canada the product was grown/produced to avoid refusal of entry.

AHPIS will work closely with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to analyze survey data and other information and will further regionalize and adjust the restrictions as appropriate. Importers of the above referenced products should monitor this situation closely for potential changes.

Additional information can be found on AHPHIS's website at www.aphis.usda.gov; or by contacting a CPB agricultural inspector.