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British honey companies have attacked “overzealous” new EU laws they claim discriminate against them.
The European Parliament has called for changes to EU labelling rules for honey as part of updates to the “breakfast directives” covering jams, jellies and marmalades.
UK and EU honey laws are currently the same because neither has changed since Brexit but British honey exporters will have to follow the new rules to sell in the EU.
The draft law will mean that all honey sold in the EU will have to list the country or countries it is harvested in on the label on the front of the jar.
In the case of blended honeys from more than one country, all the countries of origin must be listed in descending order of percentage on the label .
As things stand in the UK, labels can simply state the spread is a “blend of non-EU honeys”, rather than list countries such as China, Vietnam or India, which provide cheaper imports.
Brussels drew up the new legislation after a European Commission study found honey was being adulterated with cheap sugar syrup.
Almost half of all EU honey imports were deemed likely to be fraudulent, and all ten of the UK samples failed the authenticity tests.
Chinese imports
The practice of bulking out honey has been linked to cheap Chinese imports.
The UK is the world’s biggest importer of Chinese honey, importing more than 38,000 out of a total of 52,000 tonnes from China last year.
The UK exported more than £8.1m of honey to the EU last year, mostly to Ireland and France, which is about two thirds of its export market.
“We believe the study to be highly problematic, lack veracity and clearly discriminate against non-EU honeys,” the British Honey Importers & Packers Association (BHIPA) told the Telegraph.
“An overzealous EU approach to solve a problem we do not believe to be widespread in the UK and based on an EU study we believe lacks veracity, is unlikely to be in the best interest of British honey companies or consumers,” it added.
It said “significant disruption to European and global honey supply” caused by droughts in Europe and the war in Ukraine had forced honey to “change blends and source alternatives”.
Brussels also plans to set up a traceability system for the honey supply chain, with an exemption for small EU beekeepers, and an EU laboratory to carry out systematic testing on honey.
The rules, which are meant to prevent consumers being misled and domestic producers undercut, will also apply to jams and marmalades that use fruit from more than one country and have to be negotiated with EU governments before becoming law.
‘No discrimination’ says European Commission
“There is absolutely no discrimination between honey of EU and non-EU origin. The EU is not self-sufficient for its honey consumption and therefore imports honey. The final choice is up to the consumer,” a European Commission spokesman said.
UK honey companies that export to the EU will have to follow separate European regulations to sell in the Single Market, unless the Government aligns with the Brussels rules.
Lynne Ingram, the British Beekeepers Association’s Honey Authenticity Ambassador, said the Government should do just that.
She said, “The British consumer doesn’t understand what they are buying and producers can’t compete with prices that can be as low as 69p a jar for some supermarket brands.
“Proper beekeepers are going out of business because the packers don’t want to buy and pay a fair price.”
A Defra spokesperson said it was aware of the EU proposals and that it would consider them in detail to “back British exports and minimise any impact”.
“Any decision on our own policy will focus on maintaining our existing high food standards, protecting consumers, and supporting businesses and consumer choice at a range of price points,” she said.
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