Notice to industry – Changes to Canada's Plum Pox Management and Monitoring Program

April 14, 2022

Who this affects

This notice pertains to commercial facilities that handle nursery stock within the Plum Pox Virus (PPV) quarantine area, covering portions of the Niagara Region and the City of Hamilton, Ontario. This notice also affects homeowners residing within this zone, where a propagation ban and movement restrictions of host material are currently in place.

What has changed

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has recently completed a 10-year review of Canada's Plum Pox Management and Monitoring Program (PPMMP), and will be introducing program changes to ensure that the resources allocated under this program align with identified risk. Starting in the upcoming 2022 growing season, the following activities will be implemented:

• Increased rate of inspection of commercial facilities handling nursery stock within the PPV quarantine area (such as nurseries, retail centers, landscaping companies) in an effort to expand awareness of movement restrictions and prevent the movement of regulated articles from the PPV quarantine area
• Risk-based inspection of residential properties in key areas along the boundary lines of the PPV quarantine area and of other properties based on risk and compliance history
• Development of a more comprehensive outreach strategy to strengthen the public's awareness of the pest and the restrictions within the PPV quarantine area

Note: The most critical components of the PPMMP, such as the perimeter sampling and orchard propagation inspections, remain unchanged and existing CFIA directives D-08-04 and D-99-07 are still current and active.

Context

Plum pox virus is a serious plant disease infecting stone fruit species of the genus Prunus including peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, almonds and ornamental varieties. PPV does not kill trees, but can drastically reduce yields and is transmitted from infected trees by aphids or by grafting or budding. PPV does not affect human or animal health.

The PPMMP was implemented by the CFIA in 2011 to minimize the impact of PPV on Canada's tender fruit industry and to ensure that Canada could meet its international obligations for the control of the pest.

The PPMMP consists of the establishment of a Plum Pox Virus Infested Place Order (2014) which is still in place, annual monitoring (sampling) of orchard and residential properties along the periphery of the established PPV quarantine area, and the ongoing enforcement of the propagation ban and movement restrictions imposed on all susceptible host species within this zone. The application of these long-term regulatory controls remains necessary to prevent the spread of PPV outside of the Niagara/Hamilton quarantine area.

Further Information

Additional information on the pest can be found on the CFIA website.

For any questions related to these measures, please contact your local CFIA office.