Russia: All Dutch flower imports to be inspected

From today the quality of all imported Dutch floriculture products will be inspected at the Russian border. A lot is still unclear about these inspections. All products from the Netherlands are being tested on unwanted insects and toxins. However, it is not clear how these phytosanitary inspections will be executed. The Russian authorities did not give any further information about it.

Last Friday, Robert Roodenburg reported the following on the site of the VGB (Association of Wholesalers in Horticultural Products): "Also, our contacts in Moscow, Brussels and The Hague did not receive any information. Together with LTO, VBN coordinates the meeting with the phytosanitary authorities of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and our foreign contacts, in order to approach this issue sector-wide.

Also, not much is known about the practical consequences of these measurements for the exporters. A lot will depend on the way these inspections are going to be executed and which certificates will be required, reports EVO on their site (in Dutch).

Rosselkhoznadzor
Rosselkhoznadzor, the Russian agricultural watchdog, summed up several incidents regarding cases in which pests were found in Dutch flowers. This is the reason for the measurement, according to this organization. However, many parties doubt the fact that pests were found in these flowers, they think it is more a political measurement.

According to ANP, Rosselchoznadzor is in consultation with the European Commission (EC) about the import of Dutch flowers.

Export
In 2014, approximately 205 million euros worth was exported from the Netherlands to Russia. Over the last months, the export of flowers decreased drastically. For a extensive overview of statistics, click here (Factsheet Fruit&Vegetable).