Hungarian beekeeping activity was presented in Strasbourg

(Photo: AM/Csaba Pelsőczy)

At the exhibition organized together with the National Hungarian Beekeeping Association, István Nagy pointed out that currently only 1 thousandth of the common EU agricultural policy budget goes to support the beekeeping sector, “this does not show that the sector is important for Brussels. He emphasized that the direct support based on bee colonies. In his speech, the minister pointed out that Hungarian honey competes with honey produced in third countries. As a result of the EU’s several market-distorting actions, the honey market is very unfavorable for EU producers, including Hungarian producers. As he said, EU investigations have also shown that fake honey most often comes from China, but the EU does not act with sanctions, so fake honey is still on the market.

In this regard, Balázs Hidvéghi drew attention to the fact that the EU markets were flooded with cheap Chinese syrupy honey

Last year, 67,000 tons of this chemically produced fake honey arrived in the EU, where it was sold for half the price of European producers, which pushed the farmers into a situation close to bankruptcy. He emphasized that the European Commission does not represent the interests of Hungarian and European beekeepers. According to the representative, a legislative background must be created that takes into account the interests of Hungarian and European beekeepers and protects consumers. He added: EU citizens should be encouraged not to buy cheap, low-quality honey, but domestic honey, preferably from small producers. Proper honey labeling is essential for all of this, it is important that instead of the overly general marking, it should be indicated on the labels: exactly which country the honey comes from and what its composition is. He stated: we cannot allow the European market to be dominated by external players and force their shoddy products on us. Balázs Hidvéghi drew attention to the fact that Hungary is one of the leading honey-producing countries in Europe and that the Hungarian people still prefer high-quality domestic honey. He also reminded that Norbert Erdős, a former member of the European Parliament of Fidesz, is credited with the report on the prospects and challenges of the beekeeping industry in the European Union, which was adopted by the European Parliament with a huge majority. “The Erdős report paid special attention to the fight against counterfeit honey from third countries, to the labeling of honey, to the increase of EU subsidies that help beekeepers, and to the banning of plant protection active substances that are really dangerous to bees,” he emphasized. mIn his opinion, the report was hardly taken into account by the European Commission, only a few partial solutions were reached in the matter.

MTI