Russia’s sanitary authorities decided to tighten the grip on suspicious plants imported from the Netherlands. So, after the resolution on burning smuggled Western food at the border, the Russian government is ready to permit customs officers to burn Dutch flowers. The Russian sanitary watchdog initiated revision of the current legislation. According to new rules, trucks with fresh blooms can cross the Russian border after a mandatory sanitary inspection in Russian laboratories. The sanitary watchdog posted a statement that Dutch freshly cut flowers could contain harmful bacteria, which pose a serious threat to the country’s economy and agricultural produce. Officials insist that bugs in Dutch flowers are not recognized as dangerous in the European Union. In fact, the "flower war" marks a new low in relations with the West and Moscow's retaliation for a Dutch investigation into the downing of a Malaysian airliner over east Ukraine in July last year. Earlier, Russia’s authorities voiced concern about safety risks of “infected” Dutch blooms. However, Robert Roodenburg from the Association of Wholesale Floricultural Products, who negotiates on behalf of Dutch producers, said, "At the moment, we don’t have the means to exterminate all the organisms that are unwanted by the Russians. We want to use biological, not toxic means to eliminate these organisms and developing that technology will take time." No doubt, such a response was a good excuse to impose new rules of flower imports. Interestingly, the Netherlands is the largest supplier of flowers worldwide. Besides, it is a gateway for shipments from Ecuador, Columbia, Kenia, Zimbabwe, Israel, India, etc. These countries account for 52% of the global export sales of flowers.
