MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/. Russia’s agriculture watchdog does not rule out banning flowers import from the Czech Republic and Slovakia in view of ignoring Russia’s requirements to certification of products coming from the Netherlands, head of Rosselkhoznadzor Sergey Dankvert told TASS on Wednesday.

"We have recently discovered [flowers from the Netherlands - TASS] in respect of Slovakia. If the Slovak service does not meet requirements, then we will resort to imposing a restriction on flowers import," Dankvert said.

The ban may also be imposed in respect of the Czech Republic, Dankvert said. "The Czech Republic is the next one because questions are also in place in respect of it. Firstly, they did not come to negotiations with us, unlike Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Secondly, we are monitoring [supplies - TASS] and [hazardous products] were found," Dankvert added.

Rosselkhoznadzor informed phytosanitary services of several nations [Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria] performing certification of flowers from the Netherlands about major safety problems with these products and suggested holding consultations and suspending certification of Dutch flowers for the Russian market. Import of flowers from the Netherlands to Russia is allowed only according to findings of laboratory expert examinations since August 10.