Canada's federal agriculture minister says she's optimistic that shipments of Prince Edward Island potatoes will start to head to Puerto Rico within two weeks, and to the mainland U.S. shortly after that, ending a ban in place since November.
Marie-Claude Bibeau and P.E.I. member of Parliament Lawrence MacAulay were in Washington on Thursday meeting with U.S. secretary of agriculture Tom Vilsack.
Bibeau said Vilsack agreed to ask the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to conduct a risk analysis of P.E.I. potatoes to Puerto Rico within two weeks, and for the mainland in the weeks after that.
"I'm hopeful that we can see the market of Puerto Rico for table stock potatoes reopening within one, maybe two, weeks. He also gave directions to do it as fast as possible for the mainland," said Bibeau.
On Nov. 21, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency suspended the fresh potato trade to the United States and its territory of Puerto Rico following the discovery of potato wart in two Island fields — bringing to a sudden halt exports usually worth about $120 million per year to the P.E.I. economy.
The agency later said that if it hadn't imposed the ban, U.S. officials would have done it themselves.
No Risk to Humans
Potato wart is a fungus that deforms tubers and makes them unmarketable, but does not pose a risk to humans. If it takes hold in an area, yields and profits can be greatly reduced.
There's no final resolution, but Bibeau said Thursday's meeting went "very well."
"We had a very important discussion, obviously on potato wart, and on a path forward to reopen the market to table stock potatoes, starting with Puerto Rico in very short notice."
More than 80% of Puerto Rico's potatoes usually come from P.E.I. The P.E.I. Potato Board says the Island ships $18-$20 million worth of potatoes to the U.S. territory in a normal production year. In 2020, sales to Puerto Rico accounted for about 25 per cent of the province's sales to the United States.
Bibeau said all the scientific evidence from the CFIA — showing rigorous controls that will prevent wart from spreading — has been passed on to APHIS.
"As soon as APHIS gives us the green light, I can assure you that CFIA will start issuing export permits," she said.
"We are confident that it will be analyzed, and they will be able to have the same conclusion that we have, that there is a very negligible risk, and that we can reopen the market quickly."
MacAulay said it's the first sign of hope he's seen since the ban was imposed.
"Being a former potato grower, I know what it means. Hopefully it gives a little heart to the potato industry and P.E.I."
P.E.I. premier Dennis King was quick to acknowledge the apparent breakthrough on Thursday evening.
"There seems to be encouraging news south of the border," he tweeted. "I want to thank Minister Bibeau and Minister MacAulay for going to Washington to reinforce the safety and quality of our potatoes and the importance of trade between our two nations.
"Still much to understand, and to be done — but this is the first flicker of good news for our potato industry in 8 weeks. We need to see our potatoes moving south of the border ASAP, and we can't stop working until the border is fully reopened."