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New efforts are under way by the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers to educate the Washington State grape industry about certification programs and help growers and wineries determine how clean out-of-state certified purchases may be. The Northwest Foundation Block Advisory group will also be looking at ways to keep foundation and registered blocks clean in Washington State, which could include stepped up testing of registered and foundation blocks.
Every state certification program is different, with different diseases targeted. Though routine visual inspection of registered blocks is often required, routine laboratory testing of the blocks is not common.
In Washington State, according to Washington Administrative Code 16-462, foundation and registered blocks are to be inspected at least twice a year by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, with certified planting stock inspected at least three times per year. Certified plants must be free of grapevine fanleaf virus, grapevine leafroll-associated viruses, grapevine corky bark disease agent, grapevine Rupestris stem pitting virus, Arabis mosaic virus, tomato ringspot virus, grape phylloxera, vine mealybug, and be free of root-knot nematode, crown gall and other visible diseases or serious pest injuries.
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