OTTAWA – The United States will lift its ban on Prince Edward Island potatoes, ending a bitter six-month dispute that pitted Canadian science against American protectionism, senior officials said Wednesday.

“It’ll all be made official later today,” said Rory McAlpine, executive director of Agriculture Canada’s International Trade Policy Directorate.

“As to when potatoes will actually move across the border, it will still be a couple of days, I think.”

McAlpine said it will take that long for U.S. inspectors, currently preoccupied with foot-and-mouth disease, to be deployed at Canadian border crossings.

American officials took Wednesday’s comments to mean the Canadian government was considering accepting U.S. restrictions on P.E.I. potatoes.

The restrictions being discussed now are not much different than what was proposed months ago after potato wart was discovered on the island, according to Michael Corey of the Maine Potato Board.

“The USDA’s effort to restrict the importation of potatoes from Canada has protected farmers in Maine and other parts of the country from the threat posed by potato wart,” said U.S. Rep. John Baldacci, who serves on the House Agriculture Committee. “I’m encouraged that important restrictions will continue. It is imperative that the fungus not be allowed into Maine. It could have a severe impact on agriculture production.”

Baldacci and Corey confirmed Wednesday that a letter had been sent to the Canadian officials detailing the proposed changes, which would mostly govern how potatoes are moved around in Canada.

“They’re [the restrictions] different, but I’m not sure they’re any easier to live with,” Corey said.

The Maine potato official wouldn’t detail any of the changes, since they haven’t been accepted by the Canadian government. The P.E.I. Potato Board also has to approve the proposal, according to Corey.

The changes apply only to the 2000 table potato crop, most of which has been chopped up and spread on island fields as fertilizer, said Ron Krystynak, Agriculture Canada’s deputy director of Canada-U.S. trade issues.

“Conditions for next year are still to be sorted out,” said Krystynak. “I wouldn’t anticipate they would go backwards, but there will be additional testing. I understand they are planning to send up an inspection team.”

Seed potatoes – a relatively small portion of exports – will still be banned, he said. And shipments to the United States will still be limited to potatoes that have been washed, had a chemical applied to inhibit the spuds from sprouting, and been packed in 50-pound bags.

Similar restrictions on movements of table potatoes within Canada have apparently been lifted, though other conditions may apply.

The United States banned Prince Edward Island spuds in October after potato wart was found in a corner of a single field. While the highly contagious disease doesn’t harm humans or other crops, it causes unsightly bumps that leave potatoes unmarketable.

Following bumper crops in Idaho and Washington state, the Americans were intransigent on the issue despite extraordinary – and apparently successful – measures by Canadian authorities to prevent the spread of the disease.

The Atlantic Provinces Economic Council estimates island farmers lost $30 million, primarily because of reluctance in other provinces to import Prince Edward Island potatoes in the face of U.S. restrictions on their movement within Canada.

Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief, recently burned when the Americans disavowed his previous announcement that the ban had been lifted, appeared twice shy on Wednesday.

“I am very hopeful and optimistic,” he said. “It has been agreed that once we exchange those letters and everybody understands the full interpretation of those letters, that’s when we’ll make the final statement.”

Debra Sund of the NEWS Staff contributed to this report.