المملكة: Urgent: Banning the import of potato seeds from infected farms… and a complete list of the most prominent pests

Issued The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture provides an integrated regulatory guide to the rules for importing seeds Potatoesto the Kingdom, via the “Reconnaissance” platform, establishing a precise oversight framework aimed at raising the efficiency of agricultural production, strengthening the food security system, and reducing the risks of the entry of stone pests and epidemic diseases through imported shipments.

The second article of the guide stipulates the requirement to obtain prior approval from the competent authority in the Ministry before implementing any import process, ensuring that applications are subject to technical and regulatory review.

Production sources Certified

It also prohibited the import of potato seeds except from accredited seed producing entities, provided that production takes place within a program that is subject to field and laboratory control by the official authorities approved in the country of origin, to ensure compliance with internationally recognized health and technical standards.

The controls stressed the need for imported varieties to be registered with the Ministry, and for the seed grade not to be less than the basic grade “E” or its equivalent or higher, in order to enhance the quality of agricultural inputs. It increases the efficiency of local production.

Categories allowed to import

The Ministry restricted the right to import to two specific categories, which include seed and seed companies, in addition to farmers, provided that the imported quantities are designated for cultivating their agricultural holdings.

In this case, it is required to submit an official letter from the Ministry’s branch in the region proving that the applicant possesses sufficient space to grow the required quantity, according to the conditions determined by the competent authority, in order to ensure that the volume of import is compatible with the production capacity. Actual.

Mandatory certificates and documents at the point of entry

The guide obligated importers to submit a package of certificates at the point of entry with each shipment, including a phytosanitary certificate issued by the competent official authority in the country of origin proving that the shipment is free of regulated quarantine and non-quarantine pests, in addition to an approved certificate of origin, and a purchase invoice that includes the names of the varieties, grades, and quantities.

A detailed statement of the imported quantities of each variety must be submitted. According to the farmers’ numbers “Grower number” or the operational number “Lot number”, in addition to a certificate proving that the seeds are not genetically modified.

The shipment is also required to be treated with one of the fungicides permitted in the Kingdom, according to the list of restricted and prohibited pesticides approved by the Ministry.

Requirements for transportation, packaging and labeling

The Ministry stressed the necessity of shipping the seeds through means of transportation that meet the specifications that guarantee their arrival in a sound condition and conform to the requirements. It also required that they be packaged in suitable new containers weighing between 25 and 50 kilograms.

An outer label must be placed on each package containing detailed data including type, variety, seed grade, net weight, country of origin, year of production, farmer number and batch number, importer name, date of packaging, statement of treatment with chemicals, and size of seeds.

This data must be written in clear handwriting in Arabic and English and cannot be read. For removal, with the exporting company’s trademark, name of the variety, grade and weight printed on the bags.

The controls required that a sticker be placed by the competent authorities in the country of origin stating that the tubers were treated with an internationally approved fungicide, and that they are not intended for human or animal consumption.

Accurate technical specifications for seeds

The guide stipulated that the seeds be produced in the same season, with an allowance not exceeding 3% for deformities resulting from Pathogenic pests, provided that the causes of these deformities are not alive at any stage of their life, and the tubers must not contain buds longer than 10 mm in more than 30% of the total tubers.

The requirements stressed that the percentage of accompanying soil in each package must not exceed 1%, and that it must be completely free of nematodes or any other soil-borne stone pest, and the sizes of the tubers must range between 28 and 55 mm. According to the natural gradation of the sizes of the varieties, and that the tuber is alive and not atrophied.

Prohibition of imports from previously infected farms

The Ministry banned the import of potato seeds from farms previously recorded as being infected with stone potato pests transmitted through the soil, in a precautionary measure aimed at preventing the recurrence of cross-border transmission of pathogens. It also obligated institutions and companies wishing to import to provide specialized refrigerators to store imported seeds in accordance with approved technical standards.

In the event that the shipment does not conform to the specifications or does not pass inspection in approved laboratories, the importer is obligated to return the shipment to the country of origin at his own expense or destroy it under the direct supervision of the competent authority.

List of prohibited quarantine pests

The guide specified a detailed list of quarantine pests from which shipments must be completely free, and they include potato flea beetles of all kinds, the Colorado beetle, the Japanese beetle, and the weevil. Andes in potatoes, the Guatemalan potato moth, black blight, potato canker disease, smut disease, white and golden vesicle nematodes, and Columbian and false root-knot nematodes.

In addition to the “zebra chip” disease, purple top wilt phytoplasma, latent viruses that cause mosaic and ring spot, T and S viruses, potato yellowing and stunting virus, and Vein yellowing, cork ring spot disease, and potato spindle tuber viroid.

The guide stipulated that the rate of infection with black leg disease and its causes should not exceed 0.5%, whether in seeds or in the places of their production, and that the rate of infection with soft rot should not exceed 0.2%.

Permissible infection rates for some diseases

The controls allowed the import of shipments on the condition that specific infection rates for some fungal pests and diseases are adhered to. Physiological, as the percentage of natural deformities and diseases such as hollow heart, black heart, brown pulp, severe greening, and mechanical damage should not exceed 4% in total.

The incidence of black scab resulting from the Rhizoctonia solani fungus should not exceed 5% of the number of tubers, and the disease should not cover more than 10% of the surface of the tuber.

As for common scab caused by Streptomyces bacteria scabiei, the maximum percentage was set at 5%, provided that the scab does not cover more than 33.3% of the tuber area.

With regard to silver scale caused by the fungus Helminthosporium solani, the infection should not exceed 10% of the number of tubers, and a maximum of 5% of the tuber surface. As for powdery scab caused by the fungus Spongospora subterranea, the infection must not exceed 3% of the number of tubers, and the scab must not cover more than 10% of the tuber’s surface area.

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