Plum Pox (Hansard, 18 December 1975)

§ Mr. Strang

It is difficult to be certain how widely plum pox has spread, since symptoms may be latent for up722W to two growing seasons. There is a fair amount of infection in commercial plum orchards, but its tendency to slow local spread poses a much less serious threat than could quickly arise from the wide dissemination of suspect stock from nurseries.

We have, therefore, decided, after consultation with the NFU, representing both plum growers and nurserymen, that the two sectors call for different measures of control. In affected orchards we could not justify compulsory destruction of trees on the scale that measures aimed at total eradication of the disease would require. Growers should, however, be able to achieve a satisfactory level of control in their orchards with the ADAS technical guidance which we shall continue to provide. In nurseries supplying growers with plum and other susceptible trees, however, more drastic measures, under statutory powers, are essential to ensure that replantings come from healthy stock. Substantial numbers of trees, rootstocks, etc., that have not yet shown symptoms but may, nevertheless, be infected will have to be destroyed.

This will unavoidably place a heavy financial burden on a comparatively few nurserymen. These unique circumstances justify a departure from the normal rule that compensation is not paid when plants have to be destroyed in the interests of disease control. An order under the Plant Health Act 1967 which will shortly be laid will accordingly empower plant health inspectors to destroy, on nurseries, apparently healthy trees of species susceptible to plum pox in order to prevent the disease from spreading. In such cases compensation will be payable as authorised in the Act.

There have been suggestions that imports of foreign rootstocks should be prohibited or kept in quarantine until they are proved to be free from infection. Imported rootstocks from Eastern Europe are already prohibited. Our imports from Western Europe, which home producers could not immediately replace, are already subject to certification requirements involving growing season inspection and freedom from plum pox of the exporting nursery. We are discussing in Brussels the possibility of requiring prunus rootstocks and trees in intra-Community trade to have been derived from virus-tested material. The fact 723W that symptoms may not appear for two growing seasons makes any form of quarantine impracticable.

I am confident that these measures will lead to a progressive and substantial improvement, particularly if growers will make a practice of replanting with certified stocks.