The Irish Farmers' Association has urged greater vigilance and monitoring on all imported potatoes after an outbreak of a serious potato disease in Wales. It said the disease could "potentially destroy" the Irish potato industry if it arrived here in an infected load.
Ring rot, caused by the bacterium c lavibacter michiganensis sepedonicus, was found in a sample of potatoes produced at a farm in mid-Wales from Dutch seed.
Reports in Britain today said the disease, discovered in the country for the first time, hadpotentially "catastrophic" effects on the potato sector.
In a statement, the IFA said greater vigilance and monitoring were needed "immediately" on all imported potatoes.
"The disease, which has no implications for the food chain, could potentially destroy the Irish potato industry if it were to arrive into the country on an infected load," the statement said.
IFA's national potato chairman, Mr John Sheridan said: "The Department of Agriculture must test all imported potatoes as the disease has now been isolated in a number of EU countries including Britain, Germany, Holland and Belgium."
"This is the foot-and-mouth disease of potatoes and Ireland's excellent plant health status must be protected or the consequences for the both seed and ware potato sectors will be dire."
"With up to 50,000 tonnes of Maris Piper being imported into Ireland each year for the chip shop trade from different parts of Britain, Department Officials must immediately increase their levels of testing and monitoring as these and other potato imports are now a potential source for the disease."
The IFA is to meet with Department of Agriculture officials over the coming days to review the current measures in place and implications for the industry in the event of an outbreak spreading from Britain or the Continent.
The Department of Agriculture said Ireland had never had a case of ring rot and there were contingency plans in place in the event of an occurrence.
It said a survey for the ring rot and brown rot organisms is carried out here each year. Potato imports from Wales or other areas which do not have "high grade" seed status, as Ireland has, are also subject to checks.
"If there is not proof of disease free status of the consignment, sampling and testing is carried out by Department staff, and the consignment is held in Quarantine until results of these tests have proved negative," a statement said.