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Dutch breeders hit back at EU invasive species ban

Plant breeders in the Netherlands are fighting back against the EU’s attempts to ban a number of ornamental plants that are commonly used in gardens and parks.

The European Commission adopted its first invasive species list in July, which contained 37 organisms including Baccharis halimifolia, a North American shrub in the daisy family, and Heracleum sosnowskyi, a weed that can blister human skin.

But a newly revised list, due to face a vote in February in the Commission’s Committee on Invasive Alien Species, includes 12 additional species that Dutch breeders say would place draconian controls on the cultivation, transportation and sale of a number of popular household plants.

They include a popular water hyacinth used in private ponds called Eichhornia crassipes, a crimson fountain grass called Pennisetum setaceum and a broad-leafed Chilean rhubarb called Gunnera tinctoria.

Placing such species on a banned list “directly harms breeding companies, nurseries and trading companies,” said Tim Lohmann, head of public affairs for Plantum, a Dutch association of plant breeders.

Read more at Politico
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