USDA approved fresh potato shipments from Prince Edward Island to Puerto Rico, but not mainland United States. Canadian authorities voluntarily suspended exports of all potatoes for consumption and planting from PEI due to a detection of potato wart. This potato disease is not in the United States and it’s hard to control. National Potato Council Kam Quarles says the announcement is a good first step. “Given the nature of Puerto Rico as an island served exclusively by ocean freight, the possibility of disease transmission back to the production areas of the United States is minimized.” Quarles says there’s an entirely different disease risk profile for the mainland United States. “The last thing you want is a disease to get established in a production area. That’s a longer process than Puerto Rico.”
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