To protects European beekeepers from cheap honey competition, 16 EU member states have suggested labeling the honey imported from outside Europe. German Minister for Food and Agriculture Julia Klöckner supported the initiative in Brussels, on Monday. The proposal comes amid a remarkable contrast between the prices of European honey and imported honey.
The proposal made by the 16 members of the European Commission stated that Honey products imported from outside Europe are much less expensive than European honey.
"Because of the high production costs of local honey, manufacturers are almost unable to compete with the imported products. In return, European producers are keen to respect the standards of quality and environment protection," the proposal read.
So far, honey importers have labeled the products made from a mix of European and imported honey (from China for example). Sellers of mixed honey also are also obliged to note that their honey "is a mix of both European and imported honey."
Theoretically, small amounts of European honey could be mixed with a large amount of imported honey, and the taste won't be affected.
The 16 countries are calling on the European Commission to prepare a proposal for clearer indications on honey sources.
Last year was the worst for many European beekeepers, particularly in France and Italy, where unpredictable weather produced the lowest honey harvests ever.
Italy's main agricultural union Coldiretti said 2019 has been a "black year", with the harvest almost halved compared with 2018.
In France, the harvest was "the worst on record", according to the National Union of French Beekeeping (UNAF), with "fewer than 9,000 tons" — almost a quarter of the crop harvested in the 1990s.
Romania was the European honey "champion" in 2018, with some 30,000 tons. But in 2019 the country's production dropped below its recent yearly average, the ROMAPIS association told AFP.
And in Spain, the leading country in terms of number of hives, the harvest has been poor since 2015, with a drop of 5.2 percent in 2017 and a 2018 season which was "not up to expectations", according to the country's agriculture ministry.
January to early September saw over 1,000 extreme weather events in Italy (up over 56 percent on 2018), including hail, storms and heat waves, Coldiretti said. In France, spring was curtailed by a sudden cold snap, followed by a heat wave at the end of June.
In some areas of southern France, the heat melted the wax in the hives, and trapped the bees, UNAF said.
In Romania, "the lack of rainfall last autumn and winter hit rapeseed crops hard", which resulted in a "very low honey production" according to beekeeper Marian Patrascu.
