Irish Fearful Of BRR From Poland

Northern Ireland's Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorage now requires at least two days advance notice of potato imports from Poland.

The aim is to increase protection against the risk of introduction of potato ring rot by allowing inspectors to monitor the potatos on arrival and to take samples for testing.

Polish potatoes were cleared May 1 for the first time to be traded with other European Union countries.

But, officials said that although Poland had made good progress in implementing plant health legislation there still were concerns about the ring rot situation in Poland.

The Polish authorities have introduced measures on a voluntary basis requiring that all consignments of potatoes shipped to other EU countries are tested for ring rot and that authorities at their destination are notified before consignmnets are shipped.