Foodlaw-Reading
Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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EU Council Minutes, 15 December 2015
The following is an extract from the minutes of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting:
The Hungarian, Bulgarian, Czech, Polish and Slovenian delegations expressed their concerns about quality of honey imported in the EU and the competitiveness of European apiculture sector (15212/15)
As regards honey, the EU relies largely on imports as its own production is not sufficient to meet the consumer demand. Several member states shared the concerns of those delegations and highlighted the role of bees in agriculture and the need to preserve the quality of honey for consumers. They pointed out the need for the control services to dispose of appropriate analytical methods to detect the frauds both on food safety and on the authenticity of the product. Ministers disagreed however on the need for reinforcing the current labelling of origin.
A coordinated control programme performed last year showed a high level of non compliance in honey sold in the EU. The Commission has scheduled next year the publication of a report on the performances of analytical methods for honey.
A copy of the background paper is available on this site. See: Quality concerns related to honeys imported to the EU and the competitiveness of apiculture sector in Europe
