Ralstonia solanacearum has been found in Dutch potato production since 1995. For this reason, comprehensive laboratory tests on seed‐ and ware‐potato production have been carried out in Germany. The amount of tested potato lots has increased fivefold. In 1997, 10678 tests were carried out on seed potatoes and 2351 tests on ware potatoes respectively. In 1996, R. solanacearum was found in five lots in Bayern and in one lot in Brandenburg, and in 1997 only in two ware‐potato lots in Bayern. A thorough analysis was carried out to find the source of infection, but it was not possible to identify it clearly. The measures taken were based on the draft Control Directive for brown rot, which will soon be adopted by the Council of the European Union, and were very restrictive for the affected farms. Monitoring of a potato‐processing enterprise that had processed an infected lot without permit in 1996 established that R. solanacearum was present in wastewater. This paper discusses the measures taken in Bayern and the risks of further introduction.
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