Canadian Food Inspection Agency expands areas regulated for emerald ash borer in Ontario, Quebec, plans to implement revised plan to slow spread in 2014

Wendy Lisney

OTTAWA , May 7, 2013 (press release) – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has expanded its regulated areas for the emerald ash borer (EAB) in Ontario and Quebec.

The changes in regulated areas, which are intended to slow the spread of the EAB by restricting the movement of ash materials, result from new detections of the beetle in 2012.

Bruce County has been added to the existing regulated area—which includes the Cities of Hamilton and Toronto, the Regional Municipalities of Chatham-Kent, Durham, York, Peel, Halton, Niagara and Waterloo and the Counties of Brant (including the City of Brantford), Elgin, Essex, Haldimand, Huron, Lambton, Middlesex, Norfolk, Oxford, Perth and Wellington in Ontario.

Frontenac County in Ontario, and Municipalité régionale de comté (MRC) des Collines-de-l'Outaouais and Municipalité régionale de comté (MRC) de Papineau in Quebec have been added to the existing regulated area—which includes the city of Ottawa, the united counties of Leeds and Grenville and Prescott and Russell in Ontario and the city of Gatineau in Quebec.

Ville de Laval and Agglomération de Longueuil have been added to the existing regulated area—which includes the municipalities of Carignan, Chambly, Richelieu, Saint-Basile-le-Grand and Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu in Quebec has been merged with the existing regulated area which had included the cities of Montréal, Baie-d’Urfé, Beaconsfield, Côte-Saint-Luc, Dollard-Des Ormeaux, Dorval, Hampstead, Kirkland, L’Île-Dorval, Montreal East, Montreal West, Mont-Royal, Pointe-Claire, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Senneville and Westmount in Quebec.

All other regulated areas remain unchanged.

The movement of all ash tree materials and all firewood out of the regulated areas will be restricted. Those who move these materials from a regulated area without prior permission from the CFIA could face fines and/or prosecution.

Although the emerald ash borer does not pose a risk to human health, it is a highly destructive beetle that has already killed millions of ash trees in Ontario and the north eastern United States. It poses a major economic threat to urban and forested areas of North America.

The CFIA continues to work with its partners and stakeholders towards slowing the spread of the emerald ash borer. Efforts are underway to develop a revised management approach, which will take effect in 2014. Details of this approach will be shared in the coming months.

A list of all the areas regulated for the beetle, including maps, can be found at www.inspection.gc.ca/pests.

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