The Polish Ministry of Agriculture has made an important change in the phytosanitary requirements for the export of potatoes to other EU member states. This change is focused on the presence of ring rot. Currently, it is very difficult in practice to export potatoes for the Polish potato sector.
The Ministry of Agriculture in Poland published a draft law on November 12 for consultation, which contains a significant change regarding the Clavibacter sepedonicus bacterium, better known as ring rot. Last month, the ministry announced the introduction of a new law, which has now been prepared.
Designating Areas
The Polish potato sector has long been plagued by the presence of ring rot. Now that the sector is much more professionally organized in the country and frequently uses certified seed potatoes, the issue has significantly decreased. However, exporting freely to EU member states is still challenging for the Poles. The new law aims to provide clarity and designate which areas pose a contamination risk and which do not.
When Poland joined the EU in 2004, 22% of the potatoes were infected with ring rot. According to EU data, this percentage has now dropped to 2.8%. This is still higher than the less than 1% in other countries, but it is sufficient to relax the legislation. Currently, export is only possible when the potatoes are grown in an officially ring rot-free area and when the batch is sampled.
Relaxed Requirements
The proposed change relaxes the requirements concerning the feared bacterium. For example, a cultivation area will be designated as ring rot-free after two years instead of three. It will no longer be necessary to take samples annually, but every other year. Additionally, only one sample needs to be tested, regardless of the batch size, rather than a much larger portion of the batch. Both requirements stipulate that the area must first be free of ring rot before benefiting from the relaxed requirements.
The Ministry of Agriculture and the Polish potato sector hope that this will open the door to exports sooner. This should have positive effects on the potato market in the country. In 2022, the EU already relaxed their import requirements for Polish potatoes, but in practice, it had little impact because the export requirements were not very workable. There may be a change in this from the upcoming season.
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