China: First batch of US seed potatoes to arrive in Jining next month

The office for Inspection and Quarantine in Jining city (Shandong province), recently handled papers regarding the import of seed potatoes for a local agricultural company. The formalities having been dealt with, the first batch should arrive in Jining in March.

"These imports are one of the very first introductions of American seed potatoes into China in recent years." A relevant staff member explains that the agricultural science company is situated in the city's Wenshang county and that the CEO of the company is a Chinese-American person. Introducing foreign seed tubers at this time is mainly in order to find suitable acres to grow potatoes of excellent quality in the future.

Eight years ago, China tried introduced American seed potatoes but they were not a success for several reasons. This time everything has gone smoothly. "For the past few years, a lot of enterprises have started to import sprouts from abroad. We would like to remind all enterprises and responsible persons -if you want to introduce foreign seeds and sprouts you first need to prepare properly and provide all relevant parties with the required permits and certificates," says the Inspection and Quarantine office.