Netherlands: Growers demand the lifting of the EU ban on water hyacinths

"We have been growing water hyacinths for more than sixty years," says a spokesperson for Van Senten. The director of Aqua Look adds: 'We grew up with it.' The two nurseries together serve the entire Dutch market and almost 90 percent of the European market. "It concerns a loss of turnover of millions of euros," says Van Senten's spokesperson. 'We were given a year to trade our stocks. We now only have permission to keep a mother bed to restart production if we win this case.' European ban The European Commission decided in 2015 to place the water hyacinth on the list of prohibited invasive species, because it is said to pose a danger to native species. This ban already applied to Spain and Portugal, because the water hyacinth thrives there. This ban now also applies to the other Member States. As a result of this European ban, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality decided to tackle both Dutch companies. An exemption requested by Van Senten and Aqua Look was ...