Belgian tomatoes

The Belgian vegetable sector has been severely hit by Russia's ban on EU vegetables following the E.coli outbreak in northern Germany.

According to Belgian news site RTL, Belgian producers send approximately €30m of their production to Russia, and tomatoes are likely to be the hardest hit by the ban.

Philippe Appeltans of VBT, the union of cooperative auctions in Flanders, said that losses on tomatoes currently stood at €3m-€5m a day.

He criticised both the Russian decision to ban EU vegetables and the handling of the situation by the German authorities.

'I cannot understand how the communication of such a country could be so chaotic,' he said of Germany. 'They really must find the true cause of this contamination.'