IFA and UFU urge potato import ban
An emergency meeting between the Ulster Farmers’ Union and the Irish Farmers’ Association was held this week to discuss the current threat from potato ring rot disease. Representatives from the both organisations agreed that an immediate ban on all potato imports should be put in place by the authorities until effective plant health controls were put in place.
A joint statement said: “As a minimum, plant health controls must ensure that all consignments of imported potatoes to the island of Ireland have been tested and cleared on point of entry. All imports must be accompanied by appropriate plant health certificates, which include negative ring rot test results. We are currently in dialogue with our respective Agriculture Departments and both organisations are reviewing the situation daily. Potato producers concerns are growing by the minute as details of the developments surrounding the outbreak remain sketchy and consider that the threat of this disease entering the island is very real. There is mounting pressure and frustration among growers who want to see more action,” they said.
