CANBERRA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Australia has imported a record number of roses in the lead-up to Valentine's Day, data from the Department of Agriculture has revealed.
More than 10.5 million rose stems were brought into Australia in the two weeks prior to the Valentine's Day, the celebration of romance held on February 14 every year.
A vast majority of the roses came from Kenya with more than 6.46 million flowers imported from the African country in February, a 1.25-million rise on 2017.
Kenya is one of the world's biggest exporters of roses with the nation's horticulture industry worth approximately 700 million U.S. dollars annually.
Shane Holborn, Executive Officer of Australia's Flower Association, said that it was nearly impossible for rose producers in Australia to be competitive.
"Rose producers in Australia are a dying breed," Holborn told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Wednesday.
"We've had a substantial number of them just go out of business or change to another crop. It's not easy for them.
"It's difficult to compete with countries where the labor laws are a lot more relaxed, the wages are lower, the chemical registration and usage laws are very different to ours, so it puts (Australian) rose growers under pressure at this time of year."
However, Kenyan imports to Australia could be curbed when new bio-security laws on cut flowers are introduced on March 1.
The Australian flower industry has long held concerns over the bio-security threat posed by imported flowers causing the government to introduce the sweeping reforms.
"Our biggest issue is that these flowers are coming from countries with known pests and diseases that we don't want (here in Australia)," Holborn said.
"In a nutshell, the changes will be around more fumigation of the product before it comes into the country, more rigorous checking when they arrive, and more consistently applied sampling procedures in all ports of entry."