AM: payment of bee animal welfare subsidies has begun

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The Minister reminded that around 20,000 people produce honey in Hungary, the number of bee colonies is close to 1.2 million, and the bee density per square kilometer is one of the highest in the world. The importance of the beekeeping sector goes beyond itself, as without pollination many foods would disappear from store shelves. That is why we are helping the sector with several measures – they wrote. The Minister mentioned as an example that in the period between 2023-27, the beekeeping sector will receive around 42.7 million euros in support, including domestic co-financing.

In order to improve the health of bee colonies, the government provides special support, 1,000 forints per colony per year

In addition, in Hungary, animal welfare support can also be used, which is unique in the EU, at the rate of 30 euros per colony. The Hungarian State Treasury has already started paying the support to almost 2,500 clients, so almost one and a half billion forints will reach those affected. The total budget for 2025-2029 is 29 billion forints, which means a source of 5.8 billion forints per year for farmers – the announcement says.Listing the measures, Minister of Agriculture István Nagy highlighted that a further relief is that from 2021, those involved in beekeeping will benefit from extremely favorable taxation, and beekeepers using trucks over 3.5 tons can reclaim a large part of the maintenance costs of the truck – they added.

He also mentioned that, at the initiative of our country, the honey labeling rules are changing in the interests of beekeepers and consumers

Thus, it will be mandatory to indicate the place of origin and exact percentage of honey on honey bottles in the EU as well. We can also support farmers with conscious consumer decisions. To this end, we should consume Hungarian honey not only in winter, during the flu season, but all year round – the Minister of Agriculture underlined, according to the AM statement.

MTI