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CFIA AND BCLNA CONDUCTING RECALL OF CAMELLIA PLANTS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

Ottawa, April 20, 2004 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the BC Landscape & Nursery Association (BCLNA) are appealing to BC residents to assist in a recall of Camellia plants that were imported from Monrovia Nursery in Azusa, California.

The recall is being conducted to remove any plants that may be infected with the plant disease Sudden Oak Death (SOD) from the environment. Sudden Oak Death has no effect on human or animal health.

Any person who has bought Camellia plants since September 1, 2003, particularly if they can be identified as originating from Monrovia Nursery, is asked to call a "hot line" number (1-877-666-4179 outside Vancouver and 604-666-4179 within the Vancouver area). Monrovia Camellias can be identified by a picture label with the name "Monrovia" affixed to the plant stem or a "Monrovia" label on the pot. However, anyone who has a Camellia plant and is unsure of its origin, or is unsure when it was bought, is also asked to call the hot line.

Collection staff hired by the BCLNA will be sent to the homes of people who own potentially infected Camellias, to remove them in a manner that will prevent spreading of the disease.

Anyone who may have a Camellia from Monrovia is asked to:

• Have ready the name of the garden centre where they purchased the Camellia and the approximate purchase date.
• Do NOT touch the plant. Leave it undisturbed in the garden. Suspect plants should be removed ONLY by qualified staff to prevent further spread of the disease.
• Do NOT take the plant or its leaves to garden centres. (Plants can be tested only at an accredited laboratory.)

An appreciation package, including a coupon that can be redeemed at a garden centre, will be given to each person that has a Camellia removed.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed the presence of Sudden Oak Death, a serious disease of oaks and many other plants, in plants from a number of retail garden centres in the Vancouver area. The infected sites have been placed under quarantine and the infected material is being destroyed. The infected plant material found in the garden centres was on Camellias produced by Monrovia Nursery, a major plant exporter in California. The CFIA has been sampling plant material at Canadian nurseries and garden centres that received plants from California after being notified by US officials in March that Sudden Oak Death had been found at Monrovia Nursery in Azusa, California. The CFIA has suspended entry into Canada of all plants from Monrovia Nursery and any SOD-susceptible plants from California, pending assurances by California that their exports are free of SOD. The CFIA is also continuing to survey, sample and test susceptible plant material previously received from California. It is anticipated that more premises may be found to be affected.

Sudden Oak Death is a disease caused by Phytophthora ramorum, a fungus-like pathogen that has killed tens of thousands of oak trees in California and is known to affect and kill other nursery plants including Viburnum.

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For more information about the recall, please call 604-666-4179 in the Greater Vancouver area, 1-877-666-4179 elsewhere.

For more information on Sudden Oak Death, please see the CFIA web site at www.inspection.gc.ca

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