The CFIA Announces Amendments to the Phytophthora Ramorum Compensation Regulations (Sudden Oak Death)

Ottawa, December 24, 2007 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) today published amendments to the Phytophthora Ramorum Compensation Regulations in the Canada Gazette, Part II. The amendments will promote timely compensation payments to individuals and nursery producers who incurred losses as a result of activities required by CFIA to eradicate Phytophthora ramorum (P. ramorum or Sudden Oak Death) and to complete the Agency's P. ramorum eradication program.

The amendments to the Phytophthora Ramorum Compensation Regulations remove the requirement to first consider payments made under the Canadian Agriculture Income Stabilization (CAIS) or the new AgriStability program before making payment to the applicant.

However, to reduce the risk of over-compensating, income stability programs will continue to take into account payments made under the Phytophthora Ramorum Compensation Regulations before the program makes any additional payments to the applicant.

Compensation is intended to cover costs to nursery producers, wholesale, retail, landscape and private property owners for disposal of infected plant material and soil, and loss of intended use for this plant material. Compensation payments will support the purchase of replacement plants as appropriate. The provision of compensation is in keeping with CFIA's overall strategy to promote early reporting when pests are found and to assist producers in complying with their obligations to carry out eradication and control activities.

P. ramorum is the organism that causes Sudden Oak Death, a serious disease of oaks and other woody and herbaceous plants - it does not pose a risk to human health. The CFIA has detected P. ramorum on the Lower Mainland of British Columbia every year since 2003 and is undertaking site-based eradication measures to prevent it from spreading. If P. ramorum were to spread unimpeded, it could have devastating consequences on Canada's nursery and landscape industries.

The Phytophthora Ramorum Compensation Regulations came into effect in June 2007 to provide compensation for individuals and companies affected by P. ramorum in the period from Jan. 1, 2003 to Dec. 31, 2008. Applications for compensation must be submitted on or before December 31, 2010.

For more information on P. ramorum and on how to apply for compensation, visit the CFIA's website at www.inspection.gc.ca.

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CFIA Media Spokespersons:

(English) Shane Sela
Tel.: 250-363-3432

(French) Marie-Pierre Migneault
Tel.: 613-221-3829