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The
55th Legislature of the State of Washington found
that the production of high quality certified seed
potatoes within our state requires conditions that
are free as possible from insect pests and plant diseases
and that ensuring these conditions exist was in the
public interest. Our legislature also recognized that
the production of non-seed potatoes in close proximity
to certified seed potatoes increased the risk that
insect pests and plant disease will be introduced.
To
mitigate this problem the Washington State Seed Potato
Commission petitioned the Director of the Department
of Agriculture requesting the establishment of a restricted
seed potato production area. New rules were adopted
prior to the 1998 growing season that formed a seed
potato isolation district in northwest Washington.
Regulations for potato production within this isolation
district require all potato plantings in excess of
one acre to be enrolled in the seed potato certification
program. The complete rules for this isolation district
may be found in Chapter 16-325 Washington Administrative
Codes.
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