Growers of ware potatoes in England and Wales are allowed to import seed potatoes directly from the Netherlands. PotatoWorld magazine reports that at the request of the Dutch Potato Organization (NAO), the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has investigated the possibilities for exporting Dutch seed potatoes to the United Kingdom. One of the suggested options, direct import by growers in England and Wales without putting seed potatoes on the market locally, appears to be possible.
NVWA bases this conclusion on information provided by NAO and its members, says Jan Gottschall, secretary seed potatoes and policy specialist at NAO. Based on cases and questions asked, NVWA has amended the country document mid-January 2022. The document now states that seed potatoes may be supplied to ware potato growers who are themselves importers.
The British Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) indicates that ware potato growers may import seed potatoes directly from the Netherlands to England and Wales. In this case, the ware potato grower must be the importer and may not put the imported seed potatoes on the market.
Source: PotatoWorld magazine. Full report here
Photo: APH Group
