4.1. July 31, 1996- Effective September 30, 1996 This quarantine is imposed pursuant to the Pest Control Act, § 35-4-110, C.R.S. (1995) and HB 96-1018.
The Commissioner of Agriculture finds as follows:1
1. Throughout most of the year, Colorado ranks second in the nation in number of shipments of fresh-pack potatoes. The San Luis Valley of the state has approximately 77,000 acres devoted to the production of potatoes, producing 23,808,000 cwt (1,190,400 tons) of potatoes with a market value of $132,134,000.2. The potato industry is the number one agricultural industry in the San Luis Valley.3. Late blight, Phytophthora infestans, is a fungus that is among the most devastating of all plant diseases. All portions of the plant are susceptible. Late blight is commonly recognized as the Irish potato famine fungus.4. The San Luis Valley is free of late blight.5. Late blight is epidemic in North America and no other potato production area outside of Colorado is free of late blight.6. Late blight spores are dramatically explosive and the subsequent disease can destroy whole fields of plants in a remarkably short time. Under favorable conditions, a potato field that had mild and scattered lesions in one week can be nearly destroyed the next week.7. An exact measure of the actual economic damage from late blight in areas of similar conditions of climate and natural habitat is not yet available, but the cost of protecting a potato field or treating an infected potato field with fungicide throughout a growing season is $200 to $250 per acre.8. Late blight kills the foliage of the potato plant and the spores find their way into the soil and cause rot in the plant tuber. The spores may be present in fresh potatoes or, after harvesting, in potatoes in storage.9. Importation of seed potatoes infected with late blight would likely result in the introduction of late blight to the potato crops in the San Luis Valley.10. Introduction of late blight to the potato crops in the San Luis Valley would cause irreparable economic injury to the potato producers in the San Luis Valley. A quarantine is thus declared against the importation of seed potatoes into the San Luis Valley, unless such seed potatoes are certified and inspected as late blight free.
1Sources for this information are: "Colorado Potato Situation and Outlook Report" and "Potato Late Blight Management Plan for Colorado," Dr. Richard T. Zink, Extension Potato Specialist, Colorado State University; "Re-emergence of the Irish Potato Famine Fungus," W. E. Fry and S. B. Goodwin, Plant Pathology Department, Cornell University; "Colorado Agricultural Statistics 1995 Annual Report," Colorado Agricultural Statistics Service.
Rules Pertaining to the Quarantine for Late Blight Statement of Basis and Purpose
The rules are adopted pursuant to the Pest Control Act, § 35-4-110 and 116, C.R.S. (1995) and HB 96-1018.
The purposes of these rules are to enforce the provisions of the quarantine for late blight, to recover the actual costs to offset the cash funds expended for services performed by the Commissioner in imposing the quarantine and to specify how such actual costs shall be recovered.
4.2. May 29, 1997- Effective July 30, 1997 This amendment to the quarantine is made pursuant to the Pest Control Act, § 35-4-110, C.R.S. (1995 and 1996 Supp.).
Section 4.00 concerning producer reports is amended to make the reports received by the Commissioner more complete and useful. Requiring reporting of the location where imported seed potatoes are planted will facilitate detection of late blight should it occur in fields planted with imported seed potatoes.
4.3. April 8, 1999- Effective May 30, 1999 The amendments to the quarantine are adopted pursuant to the Pest Control Act, § 35-4-110, C.R.S. (1998).
The purpose of these amendments is to enforce the provisions of the quarantine for late blight by further defining cull management to decrease any opportunity for late blight spore transmission.
4.4. April 16, 2009- Effective May 30, 2009 Statutory Authority
The amendments to the quarantine and rules are adopted pursuant to the Pest Control Act, § 35-4-110, C.R.S. (2008).
The purpose of these amendments is to enforce the provisions of the quarantine for late blight by:
1) restricting the timeframe to June 1 through September 10 when cull potatoes must be tarped or covered when being transported;2) clarifying that cull potatoes must be tarped or covered as opposed to using other methods to prevent potatoes or spores from potatoes from escaping when being transported; and3) requiring all potatoes being imported into the San Luis Valley be tarped or covered between June 1 and September 10 to prevent spores or potatoes from escaping when being transported.4) Non-substantive typographical or numbering errors are corrected to clarify the rule and remove duplicate language and definitions.The factual and policy issues encountered in the proposal of this amendment to the quarantine are as follows:
1) The critical time period when late blight can be transferred from potatoes being transported to the current potato crop is during the growing season. The growing season for potatoes in the San Luis Valley is June 1 through September 10. Potatoes being transported outside of this time frame would have minimal or no opportunity to infect the current crop with late blight, so restrictions are not needed outside of this time.2) The current quarantine provides several methods to prevent potatoes from falling off trucks or spores from being blown off the truck during transport. Some of these methods such as "loading the truck to prevent this" are ambiguous and difficult to enforce. This change will make the quarantine specific so that the potatoes must be tarped or covered to meet the requirements.3) Potatoes being imported into the San Luis Valley pose a threat of infecting the potato crop with late blight. This could be done by infected potatoes falling off the truck or spores escaping from the truck. To prevent this, trucks carrying imported potatoes must be covered or tarped. The only period when late blight could be transferred from potatoes being transported is during the growing season when potato plants are in the field. Therefore the restriction only needs to be in place between June 1 and September 10.The purpose of these amendments is to enforce the rules pertaining to the quarantine for late blight:
1) correcting the contact information of the Department for notifications and when requesting reinspection.The factual and policy issues encountered in the proposal of this amendment to the rules pertaining to the quarantine for late blight are as follows:
1) The phone numbers for the Department have changed. In addition, the Fruit and Vegetable Inspection Service within the Department is performing reinspections. This will allow the person to call either office.
4.5. November 12, 2013- Effective December 30, 2013 Statutory Authority
The amendments to the quarantine are adopted pursuant to the Pest Control Act, § 35-3-110, C.R.S. (2013).
The purpose of these amendments is to enforce the provisions of the quarantine for late blight by:
1) Adding a requirement in 2.00 B that both a North American Plant Health Certificate accompany any seed potatoes imported into the San Luis Valley to document that field inspections were performed and that the lot is free from late blight.2) Adding to 2.00 C the authority to deny unloading of any load of seed potatoes into the San Luis Valley if either the North American Plant Health Certificate or the laboratory test results indicate that late blight was present during growing, storage or loading of the load.3) Adding to 2.00 D the authority to deny unloading of any load of seed potatoes into the San Luis Valley if either the North American Plant Health Certificate or the laboratory test results does not accompany the load.4) Adding to 2.00 E the requirement to reinspect any load if the North American Plan Health Certificates or the laboratory test results indicate that no late blight was present during the growing, loading, or testing of the load.5) Changing the interval at which CDA will bill CPAC to reflect what is currently being done.The factual and policy issues encountered in the proposal of this amendment to the quarantine are as follows:
1) In some instances a field inspection report does not represent the complete field inspection information on the lot. This is the case when more than one field is aggregated into one lot. The North American Plant Health Certificate should provide the disease findings of all field inspections for each lot.2) The North American Plant Health Certificate had not been developed at the time the Late Blight Quarantine was initially adopted in 1995, therefore it could not be required at that time. In addition, the recently implemented Seed Potato Act and associated rules requires imported seed into Colorado to have a North American Plant Health Certificate. Therefore requiring this document places no further burden on the producer, as they must have this document for Seed Potato Act compliance.3) The Department has been billing CPAC on a quarterly basis for past several years. Quarterly billing rather than monthly billing is more efficient for both CDA and CPAC.4.6. Adopted November 8, 2017- Effective December 30, 2017 Statutory Authority
The amendments to the quarantine are adopted pursuant to the Pest Control Act, § 35-4-110,(1), (2) and (3), C.R.S.
The purpose of these amendments is to enforce the provisions of the quarantine for late blight by:
1. Clarifying the laboratory test required in 2.1.2 for incoming seed potatoes is a 21-day bioassay using at least 400 tubers. And clarifying that small lots of seed potatoes still need the late blight testing as required in Part 2.1.2 but can be less than 400 tubers as long as it is representative of the lot and a minimum of 5 tubers.2. Clarifying the laboratory test required in 2.1.2 for incoming nuclear seed potatoes is a 21-day bioassay but the sample size may be smaller than 400 tubers for small lots but must be at least 5 tubers.3. Update numbering system to make this Rule consistent with other Department Rules.The factual and policy issues encountered in the proposal of this amendment to the quarantine are as follows:
1. The quarantine is currently nonspecific with regard to the required laboratory test for late blight and also the number of tubers that must be tested. New laboratory testing techniques have been developed since the late blight Quarantine became effective in 1996, but after talking with authorities in the field such as Amy Chartkowski at CSU it was determined that the 21-day bioassay is still the best testing procedure for late blight. So we felt like this needed to be specified to meet the requirements of the quarantine. Also it must be clear how many tubers, at a minimum, must be tested.2. In small lots of seed potatoes, which are typically nuclear stock, 400 tubers may be all or a substantial portion of the lot. The quarantine needs to allow for fewer tubers to be tested but still allow for the test to be representative of the lot to protect against late blight. 5 tubers is the minimum that would be representative. Also, it has been decided that nuclear stock no older than mini-tubers that originate within Colorado from the labs that are already part of the potato certification program pose no threat of late blight and should be allowed to send a sample size of no fewer than 5 tubers to the Colorado Potato Certification Service Disease Laboratory for late blight testing. Nuclear seed stock of any size that originates outside of Colorado must have the late blight testing as required in 2.1.2 prior to entering the San Luis Valley, however the number of tubers tested may be less than the 400 tubers as long as it is representative of the lot and no less than 5 tubers.4.7. Adopted February 13, 2019- Effective March 30, 2019 Statutory Authority
These Rules are proposed for adoption by the Commissioner of the Colorado Department of Agriculture pursuant to §§ 35-4-110 and 35-4-116, C.R.S.
Purpose
The purpose of this rulemaking is to clarify terms; add definitions; clarify certificate inspection requirements; eliminate the exemption from reinspection for incoming nuclear stock, but providing only for a limited reinspection; clarify that seedling mini-tubers derived from true potato seeds are subject to a 100% visual inspection of all lot(s) upon entering the San Luis Valley; clarify the requirements of the quarantine; consolidate provisions on documentation of different potatoes; and update references to the Departments location.
Specific changes are listed below:
1. Clarifying the name for the laboratory test called for in Part in 2.1.2.2. Defining and substituting, as necessary, the terms "Load" and "Lot" to avoid confusion, as well as revising the definition of "nuclear seed stock."3. Defining the terms "Grow Room" and "seedling mini-tubers"4. Clarifying that the reference to "certificate" in Parts 2.1.3. through 2.1.5. means a field inspection certificate.5. Establishing that nuclear seed stock will not need to be accompanied by a traditional "field inspection certificate" so long as the North American Plant Health Certificate ("NAPHC") or other similar document is presented and includes greenhouse observations.6. Eliminating the exemption from reinspection for incoming nuclear seed stock, but providing only for a limited reinspection that consists of a records review to prove freedom from late blight and seed potato certification status.7. Clarifying that the requirements of the late blight quarantine apply to seed potatoes coming into the San Luis Valley for research and development purposes, but requiring that seedling mini-tubers derived from true potato seed only be subject to a visual inspection of all lot(s) upon entering the Valley.8. Consolidating provisions of the quarantine that discuss which documents are required for which potatoes at what time and making the language in Parts 2.1.2.2. and 2.1.2.3. consistent.9. Updating the quarantine to reference the Department's current location in Broomfield, Colorado.10. Correcting non-substantive grammatical errors and numbering conventions for clarity.Factual and Policy Issues
1. Through conversations with multiple state certification services, the Department learned that different states refer to the 21-day bioassay test in one of two ways: either as a 21-day bioassay test or as a 21-day incubation test. The revised rule clarifies that both references are to the same test by calling it a "21-day incubation bioassay."2. While enforcing the quarantine, the Department learned that confusion existed in the regulated community with respect to requirements by load versus requirements by lot. The revised rules clarify that the requirement to have a field inspection certificate, NAPHC, and test results showing freedom from late blight applies to each lot of seed potatoes entering the San Luis Valley ("Valley"), even when multiple lots are in a single load.3. Since the late blight quarantine was first established, nuclear seed stock production has become more prevalent. Nuclear seed stock are no longer produced in greenhouses only; such stock are also produced in "grow rooms" with artificial lighting. In addition, the revised rules clarify that nuclear seed stock will not need to be accompanied by a traditional "field inspection certificate" because nuclear seed stock are typically produced in a greenhouse or grow room. However, greenhouse or grow room observations are critical and so must be included on the NAPHC or on a similar document for nuclear seed stock.4. To date, nuclear seed stock were not subject to the reinspection requirements of the quarantine; however, such stock still needed to be accompanied by the NAPHC, lab results showing freedom from late blight, and visual greenhouse observations prior to entering the Valley. The Department discovered that imported nuclear seed stock often entered the Valley without the required documents and that the lack of such records could be identified if nuclear seed stock were reinspected during the unloading process. Therefore, the revised rules eliminate the exemption for nuclear seed stock from reinspection during the unloading process and institute a limited reinspection requirement consisting of only a records review for compliance with Part 2.1.2.1.5. The Department has also learned that seed potatoes coming into the Valley for research and development purposes often lack the required records and late blight test results. Therefore, the revised rules confirm that seed potatoes imported into the Valley for research and development purposes are not exempt from the late blight quarantine. However, for seedling mini-tubers derived from true potato seed there are hundreds of potential varieties made from the potato seeds, and, therefore, no paperwork is initiated at this point in the breeding process. The Department has learned that this group of mini-tubers poses an even smaller risk of infestation by late blight and so will allow only a visual inspection of the seedling mini-tubers, provided that 100 % of all lot(s) imported into the Valley are inspected.6. The Department learned that confusion exists in the industry concerning which documents are required for which potatoes at what time. This confusion possibly stemmed from the discussion of these requirements in two different parts of the quarantine. Therefore, the revised rules combine Part 2.1.6. into Part 2.1.2.40 CR 23, December 10, 2017, effective 12/30/201742 CR 05, March 10, 2019, effective 3/30/2019