The Royal Dutch Wholesalers Association for Flowerbulbs & Nursery Stock (ANTHOS) told HW it would be lobbying for tougher import measures.

Secretary Matthys Mesken said ANTHOS and the Dutch Nurserymen's Association would ask Dutch EU representatives to table a proposal at next month's plant health standing committee meeting in Brussels.

Mesken said: "We are lobbying for a quarantine period of two years for material from China and South Korea and maybe Japan before the EU nursery that imported it can sell it on." He added that some growers' call for an import ban would be "very difficult".

Grower Wim Van Der Poel said: "As a Dutch grower we should be banning all imports from China — it is our livelihoods. The Chinese market was only there because it was cheaper but it is not worth that saving. But I know we are not important enough as an industry."

So far inspectors have passed 285 of the 550 nurseries hit as HW went to print.But concerns have been raised should the inspectorate find any more beetles or larvae.

Mesken said: "If something is found within the next couple of days we have to go to Brussels again and see what the measures will be at that point. We are not sure whether that will be a ban."

Food & Environment Research Agency (FERA) plant health policy team member Richard McIntosh said the UK delegation would look at any proposal the Dutch might table.

"It is very important to keep this pest out of our environment because if it was established it would be extremely damaging," he warned. "Given that there have been outbreaks, we recognise it as a significant risk so we look very favourably to any proposal to strengthen our defence."

HTA policy adviser David Brown said it was likely UK growers would also support stricter measures. "When plant health consulted about tightening the inspection regime on plants coming from China the (HTA) ornamentals committee fully supported what they were doing."

FERA is urging British growers to remain vigilant. Mesken said ANTHOS has received numerous enquiries from concerned British growers, but emphasised the outbreak is confined to Boskoop.

He added that the first Boskoop trolley fairs of the season had been given the go ahead with all nurseries that wished to exhibit having passed inspections.

A list of inspected firms can be found at www.naktuinbouw.nl.

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