ARCHIVED - Spanish honey producers have a bee in their bonnet over insufficient labelling

Chinese imports threaten the viability of native and EU honey production

One of the issues under discussion at a meeting of Spain’s national association of beekeepers in Murcia last week was that of the threat to their financial viability caused by imported honey, most of it from China and, they say, of inferior quality.

Spain is the largest producer of honey in the EU, and the 14th largest worldwide, with nearly 26,000 honey producers and 2.5 million hives, and a fair proportion of that activity is in the Region of Murcia, particularly in and around the fruit orchards of the north and north-west. There are 766 registered apiculturalists in Murcia with a total of just over 105,000 hives, and the bees are essential not only for the production of honey but also for the pollination of flowers and the growth of fruit: as has been highlighted by Sir David Attenborough, if bees were to disappear from the Earth mankind would have great difficulty in surviving, as more than half of the fruit and vegetables which we eat would not be produced.

But in terms of honey, despite the existence of quality “native” production, most Spanish supermarkets sell imported honey which, according to the beekeepers, is insufficiently labelled. Much of the imported produce comes from China but it is not a legal requirement for the source to be specified on the labels affixed to jars, and those present in Murcia reiterated their demand for this to be rectified.

This, they say, would enable members of the public to make an informed choice, and it is believed that many would prefer to seek out locally produced honey at artisan markets and specialist shops. A wide range of ecologically produced Murcia honey is also sold at the three regional artisan centres in Murcia, Cartagena and Lorca.

In 2015 the agricultural union COAG released information showing that since 2007 the amount of honey imported into Spain from China had increased five-fold, reaching 15,000 tons and accounting for 70% of all honey imports, pointing out that much of the success of products from south-east Asia being attributable to the low selling price. At that point the average cost per kilo of honey imported from China was just 1.36€, but the union also asserted that production standards in China were low and could be in contravention of EU rules.

If this is the case, Spanish honey producers are facing unfair competition from the Chinese, since in this country the cost of producing honey while complying with EU rules is anywhere between 2.30€ and 7€ per kilo: these EU norms are designed to guarantee quality, and include bans on the use of antibiotics and chemicals which are permitted in China.

One of the union’s concerns is that the import of Chinese products is lowering the quality of honey available to Spanish consumers and increasing the risk of harmful or unhealthy honey reaching our tables, hence the repeated demands for labels to include information regarding the country of origin.

In Murcia the regional government is sympathetic to their cause, according to minister Miguel Ángel del Amor, who also highlights a budget of just over 2 million euros which has been set aside for subsidies to be allocated to beekeepers whose concerns meet certain criteria. For example in order to qualify for government aid, at least 20 per cent of their hives must be located in areas of environmental interest (10 per cent if they own more than 1,000).

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