On 21 July, Rosselkhoznadzor announced that Dutch flower imports would be the subject of a ban because they contain pests that pose a ‘serious sanitary threat’ to Russia’s economy and farming. "Ecuador stated its extreme concern about the fact that there is a transshipment of flowers with Ecuadorian origin in the Netherlands. Understanding the threat level, the Ecuadorian side declared its readiness to supply the flowers directly [to Russia], without the transshipment in the Netherlands," the organisation said.

On 10 August, Moscow introduced strict phytosanitary regulations on flower imports from the Netherlands, allowing importation only after the products received positive laboratory examination results.

Three days later, the head of Russia's Federal Customs Service (FCS) Andrei Belyaninov said that Ecuador, Kenya, Ethiopia and Colombia had requested Russian authorities allow direct supplies of flowers to Russia bypassing Dutch flower auctions.

The Netherlands is the largest exporter of flowers to Russia. According to the watchdog, the majority of cases when it found quarantined organisms in cut flowers imported from fifteen countries were from the Netherlands.

Source: Sputnik International