Tobacco blue mold disease, caused by the obligate fungal pathogen Peronospora tabacina, does not occur in tobacco-producing countries in southern Africa and eastern Asia. To avoid the introduction of this destructive disease, some countries have "banned" the importation of tobacco from countries with blue mold. No confirmed case studies were found in the literature which document the introduction of blue mold to a country via cured leaf. Plant pathologists generally agree, based upon their collective experience and knowledge, that blue mold cannot be introducted via cured leaf. Supportive evidency is incomplete, results from the use of several methodologies, and is distributed in many publications. Therefore, we have developed a "PROTOCOL" to be used to determine the survival or viability of P. tabacina sporangiospores and oospores in harvested tobacco leaves. This PROTOCOL employs germination and infectivity tests for documenting spore survival. Data generated during 1993 and 1994 following this PROTOCOL, support the conclusion that P. tabacina is short-lived following harvest and presents no risk to countries importing such leaf.