Dutch Horticulturalists Reluctant to Lose Russian Flower Market

Dutch horticulturalists are taking the threat of a Russian ban on flower imports seriously as the market is important for their economy, an official from the Dutch Federation of Agriculture and Horticulture said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Monday, Russia’s agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor issued a warning to eight European countries about a potential ban on the importation of Dutch-grown plants to Russia. The body called on European Union member-states to temporarily suspend issuing phytosanitary certificates for Dutch cut flowers for delivery to Russia until a final decision on the ban has been made.

"Of course we take these warnings seriously as the Russian market is an important market for Dutch growers and traders," Nico van Ruiten told RIA Novosti.

On July 21, Rosselkhoznadzor proposed banning the importation of flowers of Dutch origin due to repeated incidents of quarantined organisms being detected in batches imported from the Netherlands. In the bill on the matter, which is still before government, the watchdog warned that such violations pose a serious threat to Russian agricultural production and could undermine its contribution to the national economy.

The Dutch official said that it was still "business as usual" for the Netherlands today but extra attention was being given to the phytochecks in order to avoid any possible phytosanitary problems.