On Thursday 16 November, the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture adopted the opinion of Emmanouíl Frágkos (ECR, Greek) on the proposal revising the marketing standards for certain agri-food products, including honey (see EUROPE 13293/15).
According to the opinion for the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, the country of origin where the honey was harvested must be indicated on the label and on the front of the packaging. If the honey comes from more than one country, the full names of the countries of origin where the honey was harvested must appear on the front label of packages containing more than 25 g, in descending order and with their respective percentages in the blend (with a 5% tolerance). For packaging containing 25 g or less of honey, the names of the countries of origin would be indicated on the label using the ISO 3166 alpha-2 country code, in descending order and with their respective percentage in the blend.
The aim is to “combat imported ‘fake honeys’”, according to Irène Tolleret (Renew Europe, French).
Traceability. For honeys produced in the EU and imported into the EU from third countries, each honey marketed under an identification other than that of the harvesting beekeeper should have an identifier linked to a blockchain traceability system enabling the competent authorities to trace the history of the honey back to the beekeepers or operators in the case of imported honeys.
The compromise amendments: https://aeur.eu/f/9l8 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)