Russian Agricultural Watchdog Asks EU to Promptly Settle Dutch Flower Issue

Russia's agricultural watchdog urged the EU to resolve the issue of the certification of Dutch flowers.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia's agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor issued a statement Friday calling on European Union countries to promptly settle the certification of Dutch flowers to avoid temporary import restrictions from the Russian side.

On Monday, Rosselkhoznadzor issued a warning to eight European countries about a potential ban on the importation of Dutch-grown plants to Russia over incidents of quarantined organisms. The watchdog called on the EU states to temporarily suspend issuing phytosanitary certificates for Dutch cut flower imports pending a final decision on the ban.

"Despite the severity of the situation, there has been no response from any of these countries regarding Rosselkhoznadzor's offer," the watchdog said in a statement.

According to the watchdog, in the last four days, phytosanitary monitoring of cut flowers arriving to Russia from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Latvia and Slovakia has revealed 14 cases of quarantine western (Californian) flower thrips insect pest. In 11 cases the flowers originated from Netherlands.