Potato wart in UK: Appeal Court rejects P.E.I. Potato Board's bid to overturn ruling

OTTAWA — The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a bid by the Prince Edward Island Potato Board to overturn a 2021 decision by the federal agriculture minister to declare the entire province as “a place infested with potato wart.” That order prohibited the export of seed potatoes from the Island to prevent the spread of the soil-borne fungus, which deforms potatoes and makes them impossible to sell. The board had argued in Federal Court that the decision was unreasonable because there was insufficient evidence to establish that P.E.I. was infested with the fungus. In April 2023, the Federal Court dismissed the board's application for a judicial review, saying the order was reasonable because the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said regulatory measures had failed to prevent the transmission of potato wart to unregulated fields. On Tuesday, the Appeal Court dismissed the board's appeal, saying the lower court had selected the correct reasonableness standard ...