Industry, USDA working closely to adopt pact

By DAVE WILKINS

Capital Press

For years, a hodgepodge of regulations has governed U.S. seed potato production, with rules differing from state to state.

That could soon change as the U.S. spud industry nears adoption of a uniform set of standards.

The industry has been working on standardized seed regulations for more than five years.

Establishing a set of uniform minimum standards will help U.S. growers gain market access for their fresh spuds, industry officials said. It will eliminate the need for U.S. trade officials to represent many individual state standards during market access negotiations.

"This agreement just assures potential customers in foreign countries that everyone is meeting or exceeding a minimum set of standards," said Doug Boze, area manager of the Idaho Crop Improvement Association, the state's seed certification agency.

The new state-national harmonization agreement doesn't preclude states from adopting standards that are tougher. Idaho is one of the states that already has more stringent seed potato regulations.

"Nothing has changed for us," Boze said. "We didn't have to rewrite any rules because we were already meeting or exceeding the minimum standards in the MOU."

Sixteen states, including Idaho, Oregon, Washington and California have already signed onto the agreement.

Each state is required to undergo a USDA audit of its seed certification program as part of the process.

Idaho was scheduled to undergo an audit this week. Washington, Oregon, North Dakota, Minnesota and Colorado have already completed the audit.

The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will put the program into use when states representing more than 75 percent of U.S. seed potato production have signed the agreement.

John Keeling, executive vice president of the National Potato Council, said the program is nearing implementation as more states sign on.

The industry has firm commitments from more than 95 percent of the seed production in all the significant seed producing states, Keeling said.

"We're working closely with APHIS to bring all committed states on line," he said.