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NEW REGULATED AREAS IN SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO TO SLOW SPREAD OF EMERALD ASH BORER

Ottawa, June 30, 2006 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced today that it is taking actions to slow the spread of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) to non-infested areas by implementing Ministerial Orders under the Plant Protection Act that regulate the movement of ash wood and wood products and firewood of all species in Lambton and Elgin counties.

Regulated areas are established to allow the CFIA to maintain and enforce restrictions on the movement of potentially infested materials out of areas where EAB has been found. Regulated materials can be freely moved within a regulated area, but cannot be moved outside of a regulated area without prior written permission from the CFIA. Any person who violates these prohibitions or restrictions of movement may be subject to a fine and/or liable to prosecution.

Some properties within Lambton and Elgin counties are also under specific quarantine measures because they are infested or suspected of being infested with EAB. Those property owners have been notified that they cannot remove regulated materials from their properties without CFIA permission. These additional measures have been taken to slow the spread of EAB within Lambton and Elgin counties and remain in effect even though these counties are now regulated areas.

The materials that are regulated for EAB are the same for both regulated areas and the properties that are under individual quarantines. These regulated articles include nursery stock, trees, logs, wood, rough lumber including pallets and other wood packaging materials, bark, wood chips or bark chips from ash (Fraxinus species), and firewood of all tree species.

Essex County and the Municipality of Chatham-Kent have been regulated separately since 2004. However, the CFIA has now combined Essex and Chatham-Kent into a single regulated area because EAB has been confirmed throughout these two regions. Although this means that it is now legal to move regulated materials between Essex and Chatham-Kent, the CFIA continues to recommend that these items not be transported long distances, even within a regulated area.

As part of the amalgamation of Essex and Chatham-Kent into a single regulated area, the CFIA has also begun the process to de-regulate the Ash-Free Zone that is located in Chatham-Kent. Although the Zone was effective in slowing the natural spread of EAB from Essex into Chatham-Kent, now that the pest has been confirmed east of the Zone the additional restrictions for this area can be removed. Until this formal process is completed, no regulated ash products can be transported out of, into or through the Zone.

The CFIA continues to cooperate and consult with other government agencies including Natural Resources Canada - Canadian Forest Service, the Ontario Ministries of Natural Resources and Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and the United States Department of Agriculture to implement strategies to control EAB and slow its spread to other areas of Canada. Consultative and advisory committees have been formed to provide science-based advice to the CFIA on this issue.

Additional information on EAB is available on the CFIA web site at www.inspection.gc.ca.

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Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Media Relations: (613) 228-6682

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