Signed Operational Work Plan Signals Positive Momentum for Mexico Fresh Market Access

11/22/21 • 24 min

Eye on Potatoes: A Podcast on All Things Potatoes

On Nov. 6, Mexico's National Service for Agricultural Health, Food Safety, and Agri-Quality (SENASICA) published the Phytosanitary Requirement Sheet for U.S. potato imports to the entirety of Mexico. NPC CEO Kam Quarles and Potatoes USA Chief Marketing Officer John Toaspern joined the podcast to announce another important step that was taken to fully reopen the market for U.S. fresh potatoes: an operational work plan that was signed by Mexico and the United States.

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Finishing Strong: 2021 President Dominic LaJoie on NPC's Fall Policy Efforts

With the NPC Executive Committee together this week for their first in-person meeting in D.C. since February 2020, President and Maine potato grower Dominic LaJoie joined CEO Kam Quarles for an update on the organization's end-of-year policy activities and previews of the Potato Expo 2022 and NPC Washington Summit.

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PEI Potato Wart Update: Clear and Troubling Sampling Reduction Leaves Questions Unanswered

In light of the multiple potato wart finds on Canada’s Prince Edward Island (PEI), during a meeting of the Potato Association of America on December 1, 2021, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) provided growers and industry partners an update on its soil sampling efforts throughout the province’s potato production area. Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council calls in to discuss how CFIA's own data -- which demonstrates a clear and troubling reduction in sampling -- leaves the industries on both sides of the border with uncertainties about the spread of the disease on PEI and what the future holds for reopening trade with this important industry partner.