EU agriculture ministers have reiterated their call on the European Commission to revise legislation on the labelling of honey blends and protect producers and consumers when choosing the honey of their liking.
Read the original French article here.
Gathered in Brussels on Tuesday (30 January), EU-27 agriculture ministers repeated a call they had made in January 2020 by way of a joint declaration urging the Commission to review the EU’s so-called Honey Directive.
According to them, the legislation should be amended to improve the traceability of honey, particularly when it is blended with honey from different parts of the world.
The EU imports 40% of its honey from non-EU states like China, Ukraine and Argentina as they offer very low prices for every kilo of honey – not more than €1.36 for honey from China, and €1.89 for honey from Ukraine in 2021.
For comparison, in France, the kilo of honey was between €10 and €30.
Under the current EU rules, honey pots must show the exact country of origin if the honey comes from one country. However, this is not the case for blends containing honey with different origins, making it hard for consumers to know the true origin of honey.
Labels either include: “blend of honey from EU and non-EU countries” “blend of honey originating from the EU”, or “blend of honey not originating from the EU”.
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Protecting consumers and producers
According to the EU ministers, this labelling is detrimental to consumers and producers.
“The current origin-labelling rules for honey place producers of honey originating from a single country on an unequal footing compared to producers of honey blends,” the Slovenian delegation complained in a note ahead of the Council.
Hungarian Agriculture Minister Sándor Fazekas added that “there is no point in protecting pollinating insects if the European Union is unable to protect its own bee products and beekeepers”.
As such, Slovenia, backed by 19 other member states including France, called for the EU legislation on honey to be changed.
“Each country of origin should be listed on the label with the proportion in which they are found in the mixture, which will increase the profitability of the sector and restore consumer confidence in our products,” explained the country’s minister, Irena Šinko.
As the ministers pointed out, bolstering the legislation will also help combat fraud, as honey is now one of the most counterfeited products in the world.
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France, where more than 70% of national honey consumption is imported, decided to tackle the issue on its home turf.
Honey packaged in France must now be labelled with the names of all countries of origin in descending order according to content percentage, according to a recently adopted decree.
The rule does not concern products sold in France if these were packaged in other European countries before reaching the French market.
The French National Beekeeping Union (UNAF) urged the EU to put an end to “ineptitude” and quickly revise the “Honey Directive” so that honeys from all over the European Union indicate their origins.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski announced that the Commission would use the ongoing review of marketing standards under the EU’s Farm to Fork strategy to “launch an impact assessment” and make a “legislative proposal very quickly”.
Both the Farm to Fork strategy and the overarching European Green Deal provide for the need for clear labelling.
The new rules should “guarantee the European single market” and not “impose excessive administrative burdens on stakeholders”, said Wojciechowski.
The Commission will also ensure that “the information on these labels is proportionate and verifiable”, Wojciechowski warned.
A proposal to revise the directive is expected to be presented to the Council and the European Parliament in March 2023, according to the Slovenian minister, although the European Parliament had already passed a resolution to this effect in October 2021.
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[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/Natasha Foote]
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Source: euractiv.com
