Restrictions Lifted on the Importation of Potatoes from Canada to Puerto Rico

Press Release

The resident commissioner, Jenniffer González Colón, announced that the federal Department of Agriculture (USDA) lifted restrictions on the importation of potatoes from Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, to Puerto Rico.

González Colón met with Canadian officials, including the Provincial Premier of Prince Edward Island, Dennis King, the Consul General of Canada in Miami, Susan Harper, and the Minister of International Trade, Exports, Small Business and Economic Development of Canada, Mary Ng, and has been working on this issue together with USDA and the Department of Agriculture of Puerto Rico since she learned of the actions taken by Canada.

"He kept me in communication with both the federal and Puerto Rico Departments of Agriculture and emphasized the importance that USDA and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) remain in collaboration to be able to resume the importation of potatoes as long as they do not represent a risk and food safety regulations are followed," said the resident commissioner.

The USDA notes that the importation of these potatoes, under specific conditions, poses little risk of introducing a fungus known as Synchytrium endobioticum or "potato wart," a soil-borne disease that reduces the yield and marketability of this product. In October 2021, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) detected "potato wart" on PEI land used to process potatoes. Following this, CFIA suspended the shipment of potatoes to the United States, including Puerto Rico.

The "potato wart", which does not represent damage when consumed, produces spores that can remain damaged in the ground for decades, increasing the probability of propagation. This spread can occur through the transportation of infected potatoes, movement of developed land, contact with machinery used to work on operated land and by contact with shoes that have touched the finished land. After investigating this issue for several months, USDA will state that it is not a risk for the market in Puerto Rico.

Effective February 9, PEI may resume export of table potatoes in accordance with specific USDA requirements and Canadian Food Inspection Agency mitigations. Among the requirements is that the potatoes have to be supplied from areas outside the areas under investigation for "potato wart", they have to be for food consumption only and the importation of seeds is prohibited. Both USDA and CFIA work to release remaining restrictions and resume importation into other states.

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