On Tuesday, Feb. 15, Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision partially lifted the ban on the import of plant products from the Netherlands, an Agriculture Ministry official told Itar-Tass.

An understanding on a gradual lifting of restrictions was reached earlier during talks between Russian Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev and the leadership of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture and the Plant Protection Service.

As of now, the Netherlands is the third-most important European partner of Russia after Germany and Italy. Prior to the ban, Holland delivered up to 75 percent of its flowers to Russia. On the whole, the Russian flower market is estimated at $1 billion.

Russia placed a ban on Dutch flower imports including potted plants on June 28, 2004 after California Thrips, a small destructive insect also known as Western Flower Thrips, were found in some samples. The ban was extended to all Dutch plant imports on Dec. 3, 2004. Earlier Russia also closed its borders to all plant imports from Germany.

Source: Mosnews