ACF panel backs temporary moratorium, rulemaking after Colorado seed-potato shipment reached Maine

The Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry voted to pass an amended version of LD 473 that imposes a temporary moratorium on seed-potato imports from Colorado and directs the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (ACF) to initiate rulemaking and report back to the committee.

The amendment — described by the committee analyst as the "purple sheet" amendment — converts the draft bill to a resolve. Section 1 places a temporary moratorium: the department may not allow importation of seed potatoes from the state of Colorado until the department has amended and finally adopted an updated chapter 30 quarantine rule for potatoes. Section 2 directs the department to begin rulemaking under the Administrative Procedures Act to align chapter 30 with statute and current science and to adopt the updated rule on or before May 31. Section 3 requires a report to the committee by Feb. 2, 2027 on certification and testing standards for seed potatoes and allows the committee to submit legislation to the 133rd Legislature based on that report.

Committee members said the action responds to a recent incident in which a load of seed potatoes from Colorado arrived in Maine despite prior legal guidance. "There was that judgment that was in 2018... stating that these should not have been coming in," said Jeannie Tapley, executive director of the Maine Potato Board, adding that the industry agreed the remaining suspect material should not touch Maine soil and that unsold material should be incinerated if it cannot be shipped out of state.

Department officials told the committee that the rulemaking timeline is constrained by the Administrative Procedures Act but that the department would initiate the process by May 31 and expected to finish by late summer. Craig Leine, director of the Bureau of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Resources, said the commissioner also retains broad emergency authority under state law to respond quickly to dangerous plant diseases or insect infestations.

Committee members pressed the department on testing protocols and sample sizes used in the prior incident. Amanda Plant, a pathologist with the Maine Potato Board laboratory, said post-harvest sample sizes vary by pest: PVY and leaf roll testing typically uses 200–250 tubers depending on lot size; bacterial ring rot testing is a 400-tuber test. "Bacterial ring rot which is stated in the chapter 30 rule is 400 tuber test," Plant said.

Retailer Fedco described the disposition plan for the suspect load: roughly 80% had been sold out of state, about 10% sold to Maine customers but still in the facility, and approximately 12% remained unsold. Fedco's Jen Goff said the company will repackage and ship what it can out of state and work with the department to incinerate any remaining material so that "no part of this supply will touch Maine soil." The committee decided against directing a private company to destroy property in the resolve, citing legal concerns, and instead agreed to add a general directive in the resolve for ACF to continue working with the potato industry and to memorialize the specific disposition agreement in a committee letter to the department.

Representative Gret moved that LD 473 "ought to pass as amended." The motion passed by roll call with those present voting in favor; the chair announced the vote unanimous of those present (count reported as 10–0). The amendment also includes a requirement that ACF submit the Feb. 2, 2027 report on testing and certification standards so the committee can consider legislative follow-up.

The committee closed the work session and will follow up via a committee letter that memorializes the disposition percentages and incineration plan for the suspect Colorado load, and expects the department to post and justify proposed rule language and accept public comment as part of the rulemaking process.