On Thursday 14 September, the EU’s agricultural organisations and cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca) called on the European Commission to take action by revising the directive on honey in order to put an end to the presence of adulterated honey on the market by 2030.
In a video released by Copa-Cogeca, European beekeepers propose a roadmap to the European Commission with specific objectives: to halve counterfeiting by 2027 compared to the figures from the analysis carried out in March 2023, and to ensure that there is no adulterated honey on the European market by 2030. Almost one honey in two imported into Europe today shows signs of being counterfeit, and the trend is increasing. If nothing is done, Copa-Cogeca experts estimate that the EU could lose 5 million bee colonies by 2030.
As part of the #HoneYstLabellingNow campaign, European beekeepers also estimated that around a third of them could go out of business by 2030.
The European Union is called upon to tighten the control rules and impose origin labelling showing the percentage from each country of origin. In its proposal of 21 April (see EUROPE 13186/16), the Commission proposes that each of the countries of origin (Member States and third countries) of the honey should be listed (see EUROPE 13167/1). This is insufficient in the eyes of Copa-Cogeca. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)