Aroostook potato inspection lab granted USDA accreditation

PRESQUE ISLE – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has agreed to grant full accreditation to the state’s potato inspection laboratory in Presque Isle, members of the state’s congressional delegation announced Friday.

The accreditation will mean that Maine seed potatoes bound for Canada will need to be inspected only once. Previously, even though the potatoes were inspected in the United States, the lack of accredited lab meant they had to be inspected a second time in Canada.

Canadian law requires testing of seed potatoes by a fully accredited laboratory.

The double testing placed Maine farmers at a competitive disadvantage compared to Canadian growers, who needed only one test.

Previously, APHIS had accredited a lab in Wisconsin. Since Maine exports more seed potato to Canada than any other state, U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Rep Michael Michaud last month urged Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman to accredit the lab in Presque Isle as well.

They noted that accreditation of the Maine lab was reasonable not only because of the state’s proximity to potato-production areas of Maritime Canada, but also because staff at the lab already conducts the necessary tests for seed potatoes to be shipped to Canada.

The Maine Potato Board also has pledged to provide the funding necessary to upgrade the laboratory to meet full USDA accreditation.

“Today’s announcement has been a long time coming and marks a victory for fair trade,” the delegation said in a joint press release Friday. “Not only does it make economic sense for Maine’s potato farmers, it is a plan than can be implemented immediately because the funding, staffing and support are already waiting in the wings.

“It will reduce overall testing costs and speed the delivery of potato seed into Canada,” they said.