“The European Commission does not intend to let its guard down on the compliance of honey imported into Europe, especially from China, in compliance with the high quality standards that our beekeepers must meet every day with effort and costs, to the benefit of all of us consumers. But that's not enough! As the new EU Parliament, we aim to protect and make the sector even more competitive in Europe”. It makes it known Paolo De Castro, pro-tempore president of the Agriculture Commission of the European Parliament, in relation to the answer received to his question by Food Safety Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis.
“Since 2015 – writes Andriukaitis – the European Commission has launched a coordinated control plan in order to avoid the spread of adulterated honey on the single market. Since then, a series of checks have been carried out - the letter continues - (of which almost over 30% concerned China alone) in order to avoid cases of possible fraud in the honey sector. Finally, a tariff of 17,30% has been introduced for all imports of honey from China into Europe".
“We need ever stronger beekeeping in Europe, in order to be able to respond to the global environmental challenges that await us. For this - underlines De Castro - we will continue to work in the next legislature to safeguard it and we will propose the creation of a sectoral plan on honey, a common organization of the market that is even more ambitious than the current one, on a par with those already existing for fruit and vegetables and wine”.
In fact, according to De Castro, "it is important to intervene at the community level because, in terms of controls, at the moment Italy already stands out for legal requirements and guarantees compared to the rest of the world". In 2018, honey production in Italy soared with an increase of 22%. "But it is still a fragile evolution - concludes De Castro - which must be protected to ensure a future for our beekeepers and the entire agri-food sector".
