All imports of potatoes from Poland must be notified to the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate at least two days in advance of arrival. This will increase protection against the risk of potato ring rot entering this country, by enabling Inspectors to monitor the potatoes on arrival and take samples as necessary to ensure they are free from ring rot.

Since 1 May it has been possible for the first time for Polish potatoes to be traded with other EU member states. Although Poland has made good progress in implementing plant health legislation, there remain concerns about the ring rot situation in Poland. As a consequence, the Polish authorities have introduced measures on a voluntary basis requiring that all consignments of potatoes being traded with other member states are tested for ring rot and that member states of destination are notified prior to the despatch of such consignments.

Defra welcomes these measures, but is introducing a statutory notification requirement to supplement the Polish measures and facilitate effective monitoring and enforcement. During the initial period following accession, enhanced testing of all consignments of Polish potatoes will be carried out on their arrival to assess the level of risk associated with this trade. The results of such testing will help to determine whether additional measures need to be considered, or whether Polish potatoes represent no greater risk than potatoes from other EU sources.

BACKGROUND

1. The notification requirement means that anyone importing potatoes from Poland must provide the following information:

(a) the proposed time, date and means of introduction;
(b) the proposed point of entry into England;
(c) the intended use of the potatoes;
(d) in the case of seed potatoes or potatoes intended for processing, the proposed destination of the potatoes;
(e) the variety of the potatoes;
(f) the quantity of potatoes; and
(g) the producer's identification number or the reference number of the lot.

2. The details must be provided to the Senior Plant Health and Seeds Inspector responsible for the area in which the port of arrival is located. Contact details are available online at http://defra.gov.uk/planth/senior.htm or from the Inspectorate's Headquarters in York (tel: 01904 455174). Notification of potatoes arriving in other parts of the UK should be given to the relevant Plant Health Service.

3. The necessary legislation to establish this notification requirement is being laid before Parliament and will come into force on 24 June 2004. Similar requirements are being introduced in the rest of the UK.

4. Importers of potato consignments arriving after 30 April 2004, but before the Order comes into force, should notify the information above with the actual details at points (a) and (b) retrospectively, no later than 8 July 2004.