Correct labelling of honey

Subject: Correct labelling of honey

As you will be aware, honey labelling has for years been posing a problem for the European Union, allowing its market to be flooded with honey or honey mixtures adulterated with syrups of untraceable origin. Current European legislation provides for ambiguous labelling such as ‘EU/non-EU honey blend’ or ‘EU and non-EU honey blend’, which obviously reveals neither origin of the honey nor the percentages of the blended ingredients. European producers and consumers are both adversely affected by this ambiguity, which allows various blends of 'honey', frequently adulterated with syrups, to be widely marketed in European market at very low prices, thereby undercutting quality honey.

In view of this:

1. Can the Commission say when it plans to table a proposal to amend honey labelling legislation?

2. Does the Commission intend to introduce provisions ensuring the precise labelling of honey, indicating the country in which it was harvested and the exact percentage of the blended ingredients?

3. Is the Commission considering measures to combat fraud and unfair competition in honey and apicultural products? What measures is it considering?

Answer given by Mr Wojciechowski on behalf of the European Commission (10 January 2022)

1. & 2. Council Directive 2001/110/EC relating to honey (1) requires that the country or countries of origin where honey has been harvested be indicated on the label. This provides for EU producers to label the origin of their honey and for EU consumers to make an informed choice based on existing labelling provisions.

Within the framework of the revision of EU marketing standards, the Commission is also looking into the labelling of honey and will consider whether changes to the existing rules have to be proposed. An inception impact assessment and corresponding public consultation have already been launched (2).

3. Primary responsibility for ensuring compliance with the EU agri-food related legislation rests with the food business operators. Detecting and fighting food fraud is also the responsibility of the Member States, and their competent authorities continue to control the sector and use the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed for cross-border cooperation related to suspected frauds and non- compliances. The Commission supports and encourages this cooperation and regularly liaises with both Member States and non-EU countries’ competent authorities about non-compliances of cross border nature.

⋅1∙ Council Directive 2001/110/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to honey (OJ L 10,12.1.2002, p. 47).

⋅2∙ https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12772-Revision-of-EU-marketing-standards-for-agricultural-products