Brussels, 18/12/2001 (Agence Europe) - Last Thursday in Strasbourg, the European Parliament adopted the report by Luxembourg Christian Democrat Astrid Lulling concerning the implementation of Community legislation relating to the production and the marketing of honey. The report calls on the European Commission to propose a targeted aid regime to promote the dietetic and therapeutic value of beekeeping products.
In the context of mid-term revision of the Agenda 2000, it is requested that the Commission draft a financial and economic impact study, possibly accompanied by legislative proposals on the feasibility of implementing the following measures: - financing of the fight against varroasis and other bee diseases in the context of veterinary policy; - the establishment of a premium for pollination per hive in favour of all European beekeepers; - the introduction of an annual compensatory premium for loss of income to be paid through producer organisations and to be calculated by multiplying the average honey production per hive in the EU by the difference between the average production prices and import prices.
The EP notes that the programmes co-funded by the EU on the basis of the provisions of the 1997 regulation "are insufficient from the qualitative and quantitative point of view" and that they have not been able to bring the sector out of its structural crisis. It also calls for compulsory labelling of extra-Community honey mentioning the country of origin. The Parliament, moreover, denounces the application of antidumping duties by the United States trade administration on honey imports from Argentina and China, the main EU exporters and suppliers, "which puts stronger pressure from such trade on the Community market and entails price falls and a fall in the income of European beekeepers".