MEPs seek clearer honey labelling to curb spike in bogus imports

More transparent country of origin labelling on all imported honey is the main proposed tweak to the Commission’s revision of the so-called Breakfast directives European lawmakers agreed in a plenary vote held in Strasbourg on Thursday (12 December). The main objective of the Parliament’s position is to reverse a spike in fraud affecting the honey sector.

MEPs specified that countries of origin should be mentioned in descending order on honey labels, indicating their respective share in percentage of the weight contributing to each pot.

A proposal to reform the ‘Breakfast directives’ was put forward by the Commission last April as part of the attempt by the European Commission to update the EU marketing standards of breakfast foodstuffs such as fruit juices, jams, and honey, some of which were more than 20 years old.

In March 2023, the EU Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) issued a shock report concluding that 46% of honey imported from third countries into the Single market was suspected of being non-compliant with the bloc’s legislation.

The situation is expected to be worse as the official detection methods currently used do not pick up on all abuses, especially since the use of sugar syrups is extremely difficult to identify even with sophisticated analysis.

“We will stop fraudulent practices around honey labels, which in the future will have to clearly state the countries of origin,” MEP Alexander Bernhuber (Austria/European People’s Party) commented after the vote. Bernhuber, the Parliament’s rapporteur on the file, said the proposed measures would be enough to “protect consumers and beekeepers from adulterated honey and facilitate informed consumer choices through more transparency.”

Climate change has already affected the EU’s honey production, while retailers and food processors seem to prefer cheaper imported honey – mainly from China and other Asian countries like Vietnam – over European products. According to the EU farmers lobby Copa-Cogeca, this combination of causes could lead to the loss of five million honeybee colonies in Europe by 2030.

China is currently the largest honey producer in the world with 473 million tonnes produced in 2021, accounting for 27% of global production. The EU follows with 228 million tonnes, accounting for 13% of global share.

“In Hungary, in Italy, in France, just about everywhere in Europe, there are professional beekeepers who are dying because they can no longer sell their honey as they have to compete unfairly with honey from China. Well, Europe has to do something about it,” Yvan Hennion, chair of Copa-Cogeca honey working party, told Euronews in Strasbourg.

MEPs went further by considering the new labelling requirements as just the first step in the implementation of a complete traceability system which should ensure access to essential information concerning not only the origin of honey but also the year of production and a unique producer identifier. 

Lawmakers in the European Parliament would also like to empower competent authorities of member states to follow the entire chain back to the harvesting beekeepers or, in the case of imported honey, to the producer. “To ensure the accuracy of the information on the country of origin of the honey, the placing on the market should be conditional upon the accuracy of the information provided on the composition of the product,” the approved text reads.

Following the Parliament vote, interinstitutional talks with the EU Council will begin, and since ministers have already agreed on their negotiating positions, there is a strong chance that agreement will be reached before the Parliamentary term ends next year.