Ottawa has announced $28 million in support for Prince Edward Island potato growers affected by the export ban due to potato wart.
Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said Dec. 20 the funding would also help redirect potatoes to food banks and other organizations as well as support the environmentally sound disposal of surpluses.
She said officials will work with P.E.I. potato board and others to determine how the money will be distributed.
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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency enacted the ban in late November after the fungus was discovered on two farms. Since then, farmers and the province have protested, taking bags of potatoes to Ottawa to make their point that the potatoes are safe to eat.
But Bibeau said the federal government had to enact the ban or else the United States would have put their proposed ban into law and made it almost impossible to reverse. She said Canada took the responsible decision to ban seed potatoes going to other provinces and countries.
“But what we have been saying out loud is that fresh potatoes can be exported to other provinces and to other countries with the right mitigation measures in place,” she told a news conference.
The U.S. did not go ahead with the federal order but did direct border services not to allow P.E.I. potatoes into the country.
“The fact is the U.S. will not accept shipments of fresh potatoes until they have the scientific reassurances that they need,” she said.
About 300 million pounds of potatoes are reportedly affected by the ban. If they aren’t used, they will have to be destroyed and that has to be done during the cold weather.
Bibeau said farmers also have access to business risk management programs. About 80 percent of the province’s potato growers are enroled in AgriStability and under AgriInsurance production, and quality losses up to 90 percent are covered.
She said potato farmers widely participate in AgriInvest and there are average available balances of about $90,000.
The minister has appointed Fred Gorrell, former assistant deputy minister of agriculture and head of the federal market access secretariat, to co-chair a potato working group.
She said CFIA is working on soil sampling and testing and providing results to the U.S. The agency has said it could be 2023 before the work is complete.
Asked if Canada considered trade litigation against the U.S., Bibeau said the government looked at all options but the U.S. had the scientific grounds to suspend imports from potatoes in affected regions.
karen.briere@producer.com
