Wednesday March 20 numerous beekeeper associations including Italians Cooperative honey And Arnia Onlus I am took to the streets in Rome demand greater protection for honey produced in Italy and raise awareness among institutions and public opinion on the issue of unfair competition in the sale of honey outside the EU. Domestic producers must face the arrival of poor quality foreign products at unbeatable prices, while production costs increase necessary to cope with bad weather and drought.
“We are not only faced with unfair competition, but also with an unhealthy product that does not comply with European regulations. » say the beekeepers. “Actually» we read in the joint press release, “a recent investigation by the European Commission analyzed some samples of imported honey, finding that in 46% of cases, the latter does not comply with community rules due to the use of sugar syrups which alter the product, increasing its quantities to reduce the price and the use of additives and colorings to falsify the botanical origin“.
The press release accompanying the event also tells us that the largest absolute number of suspicious shipments came from China (66 out of 89, or 74%), while the country with the highest percentage of samples from Suspected honey was Turkey (14 out of 15, equal to 93%). Over the last two years, honey imports have stabilized at 25/26 million kilos, compared to national production estimated at around 22 million kilos, according to data from Miele de Cooperativa. The average price of the product imported from third countries – reports Miele in Cooperativa – is falling sharply and is around 1.70 euros/kilo. Otherwise, according to a Crea survey, to produce a kilo of honey in Italy, it costs at least 4.1 euros.
Dumping that is difficult to sustain for the 75,000 national beekeepers, with 1.6 million hives already struggling with increasing production costs during a year made difficult by climate change. In addition to the damage caused by bad weather, there is drought, which penalized flowering, and the abnormal heat of this winter, the bees being deceived and forced to leave the hives without however finding the flowers.
