An amendment to European legislation will make it easier to export Polish potatoes to other EU member states in the future. Since its accession to the EU in 2004, it has been very difficult for Poland to export (seed) potatoes. The reason for this is a very high infection level of ring rot, brown rot, potato cyst nematode and wart disease.
On 12 July, the European Union introduced changes to the legislation for the export of (seed) potatoes. An important change has been made in the phytosanitary legislation for ring rot. When a batch of potatoes has a plant passport that shows that there is no ring rot infection, this batch may be exported to other EU Member States. This requires an assessment by the Polish government institute SPHSIS, similar to the NAK. This was already a requirement for seed potatoes. With regard to ring rot contamination, Poland and Romania are explicitly named. Adjustments have been made for Globodera pallida (white potato cyst nematode), Ralstonia solanacearum (brown rot), Clavibacter sepedonicus (ring rot) and Synchytrium endobioticum (wart disease).
Parties certified
The question is whether the new rules will help much in a practical sense. That depends on what the authorities understand by a party. After accession to the EU in 2004, Poland had to deal with strict export requirements for potatoes. Nearly a quarter of all sampled potato batches in Poland were then infected with ring rot. This was mainly caused by the use of own seed (FFS: Farm Saved Seed) instead of certified seed.
Professional potato cultivation
Due to the strong professionalization of potato cultivation, the use of certified seed potatoes has become commonplace in professional companies. Processors of chips, chips and table potatoes require their growers to use certified seed potatoes. The risk of infection is mainly in domestic cultivation. In 2017, the number of infected batches had fallen to 7 to 8 percent. That's still too much. In other EU Member States, the infection level is on average 0,93 percent.
The export of Polish potatoes to other EU countries is low. According to government figures, Poland produced 2021 tons to other Member States in 12.060. These are certified parties. The Czech Republic was the largest buyer, followed by the Netherlands and Germany.
Difficult to banish
In 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture had the ambition to the countryside to professionalize potato cultivation in Poland and to get rid of ring rot. This plan has not (yet) been implemented. Smaller growers who grow early potatoes or table potatoes still mostly use FSS, estimated at up to 80%.
What does the relaxation mean for the European potato sector? The export of French fries from Poland to the west is small, say insiders. The final product is mainly exported. The new rules can make a difference for export potatoes to neighboring countries, the experts believe.