Russian boycott damages Dutch food exports

The value of Dutch agricultural exports fell in the first four months of 2015, the first time exports have gone down since 1996, the national statistics office CBS said last month.

Compared with the year earlier period, exports fell 2.7% in value terms, the CBS said. The drop is due to the Russian boycott of European imports, which have cut Dutch farm produce exports by almost 40%. Dairy, meat and live animal exports have been hardest hit.