DEFRA is extending its precautionary action against potato ring rot to three premises in England which received seed potatoes of the same variety as those found to be infected on a Welsh farm last week.

The supplier of the Dutch seed, which is believed to have been the origin of the disease, has provided details of five other consignments which were delivered for planting in 2003. These seed potatoes were not from the same farm in the Netherlands but were the same 'Provento' variety.  As a precautionary measure, in case of any common ancestral link with the infected stock, the premises to which the seed was delivered have been contacted and the remaining stocks of the affected variety on three of the farms are being held for testing.  We are also seeking information from the Netherlands about other varieties of potatoes delivered from the source farm.

BACKGROUND

1. Full details about ring rot can be found on the Defra web-site at http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/pestnote/rot.htm.

2.  Defra is co-operating with the authorities in the Netherlands and Spain to deal with risks arising from this finding.  The seed potatoes for the infected stock originated in the Netherlands, and two consignments from the affected farm were sent to the Canary Islands before the infection was detected.

3. An EC Directive on the control of ring rot requires member states to carry out annual surveys for the disease, covering both visual symptoms and latent infection. In 2002 over 2500 samples of ware and seed potatoes grown in the UK were taken in the survey; no ring rot was found.

4. Restrictions on the movement of potatoes have been put in place on the three new premises. No potatoes remained on the other two premises. This follows earlier restrictions placed on three farms in South West England, announced last week.