Honey: EU wants to detail countries of origin, insufficient according to beekeepers

Brussels wants to make labelling by country of origin mandatory on honey jars. © CC0 Pixabay/Estelle Heitz

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3 min

Brussels wants to make labelling by country of origin mandatory on honey jars. A Commission investigation showed that around 46% of honeys imported into the European Union were suspected or fraudulent, in particular through the addition of syrups. A measure to lower the cost price. Traceability by country of origin is a good thing, but more needs to be done, beekeepers say.

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The Brussels text, submitted for consultation to member states and MEPs before entry into force, does not require specifying what each country of origin represents in the composition of a mixture of honeys, as demanded by consumer associations and agricultural organisations. The EU executive's proposal aims to tighten "marketing standards" for many agri-food categories, including honey, to "help consumers make more informed choices".

For honey, but also nuts, dried fruits, ripe bananas or processed fruits and vegetables (packaged salads ...), the country or countries of origin must be mentioned. "It is not mandatory at the moment (...) simple 'EU' and 'non-EU' labelling is possible, without exact origins," said Commission spokeswoman Miriam Garcia Ferrer.

On the other hand, the order in which these countries will appear is left "to the choice of the packer" without the constraint of classifying them in order of importance, and there will be no obligation to detail the composition of honeys assembled from various origins. "This would have been a significant burden, there is no analytical method to identify the exact origins and even less to verify the precise percentages," said the spokeswoman.

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"We are facing a great manipulation"

A Commission investigation, published on 23 March, showed that out of 320 samples of imported honey recently checked, around 46% were strongly suspected of derogating from EU rules, notably through the addition of sugar syrups to reduce production costs. Some 74% of honeys from China were considered suspicious, as were almost all honeys imported from Turkey and all honeys from the UK – where they were blended from various origins.

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Since June-July 2022, labelling in this way has been mandatory. This is not enough, says Henri Clément, secretary-general and spokesman of Unaf, the National Union of French Beekeeping, at the microphone of Agnieszka Kumor. We need cross-analysis, much more efficient, to detect these honeys that are extremely well developed. All over the world, due to different factors – pesticides, monoculture, climate change, which is a real disaster – production tends to decline. And as the honey market worldwide is growing, because there are countries that are starting to consume honey, we see honeys arriving on the market, especially from Asia – mainly China, Vietnam, Southeast Asia – which sometimes transit through other countries. All this means that we are facing a great manipulation: it is not honey. So to fight against it, the only solution is that there are much stricter controls, with cross-analyses at the entrance of the European Community, to prevent these honeys – which are not – from entering and being offered to consumers.

(With AFP)

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