Maine Seed Certification Program

Request for Public Input in Anticipation of Rulemaking: Potato Quarantine

The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry intends to review its Rule Chapter 30 for possible updates. Chapter 30 prohibits the importation of potato tubers from regions associated with Columbia Root Knot Nematode and tubers infected by bacterial ring rot. It derives from the DACF Commissioner’s authority to regulate dangerous plant diseases, especially when the USDA has declined to do so (7 MRS § 2301).

Prior to proposing a revised rule, the Department would like to hear from those affected by the current rule and those who may be impacted by any changes.
To facilitate information gathering prior to proposing any rule revisions, the Department is hosting two public listening sessions.

Tentative locations, dates, and times for these sessions are as follows:

• Tuesday, July 7, University of Maine at Presque Isle, 3-6 PM, room information TBD.
• Wednesday, July 8, University of Maine at Fort Kent, 9-12 PM, Nadeau Hall.
• Thursday, July 9, Virtual meeting, time TBD, Microsoft Teams platform

In addition to attending a listening session, interested parties can share thoughts and comments in writing. We invite interested parties to submit comments via email to: seedcertification.dacf@maine.gov.

DACF is particularly interested in gathering information on the following:

• Should DACF consider expanding, shrinking, or otherwise altering the current geographic scope of its quarantine?
• On what basis should DACF decide such a change?
• Are you aware of publicly available primary or secondary data sources delimiting disease areas that could be useful in defining quarantine areas?

Whether or not you can attend a listening session, please submit any written comments by July 10, 2026.

If you have questions about the listening sessions, please contact the DACF Certified Seed Program Manager at Sita.Ghimire@maine.gov or (207) 764-2036. We hope to hear from you!