Colorado Quarantine

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Requirements for Importing Seed Potatoes into the San Luis Valley of Colorado

At this time, potato late blight does not occur in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. The primary means by which late blight could be introduced into the San Luis Valley is through contaminated seed potatoes. For this reason, a quarantine was declared against the importation of seed potatoes, unless such seed potatoes are certified and inspected as late blight free. The terms and conditions of this quarantine are based on the best knowledge of late blight to date. Full compliance with the terms and conditions of the quarantine; however, does not guarantee that the late blight fungus will not be introduced into the San Luis Valley, on imported seed potatoes. Therefore, every effort must be made to avoid planting seed potatoes not produced within the San Luis Valley. Should it become essential to import seed potatoes, the following requirements must be met. In order to facilitate the reinspection process required for each load of seed, we strongly recommend that regulatory officials in the San Luis Valley be notified in advance of all incoming shipments.

The following requirements are pursuant to the Colorado Pest Control Act §35-4-110, C.R.C. (1995) and HB96-1018.

1. Imported seed potatoes must be Certified and accompanied by official Certification documents from the state or province of origin.

2. Each shipment of seed potatoes must be accompanied by an inspection certificate that indicates that no late blight was present in the field during growing of the crop or at the time of loading the seed potatoes for shipment.

3. Each shipment of seed potatoes must be accompanied by a document which shows proof that a representative sample of tubers from the load(s) was tested for late blight.

4. The following late blight tuber test is to be performed well in advance of shipping seed potatoes into the San Luis Valley.

Truck load shipments. A representative sample of 400 tubers, ideally in the 4 to 10 ounce size range, must be collected from the seed lot intended for shipment.
Greenhouse minitubers. A representative sample of 100 minitubers, in the medium size range, must be collected from each seed lot or greenhouse crop from which seed is intended to be shipped into the San Luis Valley.
Small tuber samples for research. Small shipments of tubers (not to exceed 50 lbs) that are intended for research must be tested for late blight at the 20 percent level. For example, from a 50 pound sample of tubers a 10 pound sample must be submitted for testing.
Each tuber sample must be held at room temperature (65-75 degrees) in the dark under high relative humidity (90-95 percent) for 21 days.
After 21 days each tuber in the sample must be individually washed and carefully examined by a qualified person for suspect late blight lesions. Tubers exhibiting lesions should be sliced apart, incubated at high humidity and then examined under a microscope.
All disease observed in the sample must be diagnosed as to the causal agent. If Phytophthora infestans is confirmed in any portion of the sample, the seed lot cannot be shipped into the San Luis Valley.
Upon completion of this test, fax a copy of the results to the San Luis Valley Inspection office at 719-378-2006.

5. If the inspection certificate accompanying a load indicates that late blight was present during growing or loading, or no statement is made on the certificate concerning the presence or absence of late blight, the load(s) to which said certificate pertains shall not be unloaded, and, pursuant to § 35-4-109, shall be removed from the state within forty-eight (48) hours or shall be destroyed by the Commissioner.

6. Any load(s) which are not accompanied by an inspection certificate shall not be unloaded, and, if a certificate cannot be produced within forty-eight (48) hours, pursuant to § 35-4-109, shall be removed from the state within forty-eight (48) hours or shall be destroyed by the Commissioner.

7. If the inspection certificate indicates that no late blight was present during the growing, loading, or testing, the load(s) to which said certificate pertains shall be reinspected during the unloading process. Shipments of greenhouse minitubers intended as Certified seed are exempt from reinspection. Random sampling of the load shall be taken and any tubers showing symptoms of late blight shall be placed in a bin and held at the place where reinspection occurred, or, they shall be placed in a truck owned by the receiver of said load(s) and held at the place where reinspection occurred, pending the results of testing. If late blight is confirmed by testing, the load(s) must be removed from the state or destroyed within seventy-two (72) hours.

Questions regarding the shipment of seed potatoes into the San Luis Valley should be directed to Colorado Department of Agriculture, Plant Industry Division, San Luis Valley 719-580-5507 Fax 719-378-2006.