On the basis of a Hungarian proposal, the marking of the origin of honey mixtures may become stricter at the EU level

By: STA Date: 2023. 06. 28. 10:30

In recent years, Minister of Agriculture István Nagy has urged the review of the EU directive on honey on several occasions in order to provide consumers with more accurate information when marking the origin of honey mixtures. The European Commission recently submitted its proposal for this.

(Photo: Pixabay)

Pursuant to the EU directive on honey, it is currently sufficient to indicate on honey mixtures that the product is made up of EU and/or third-country honey. Hungary, together with several member states, has already urged the change of this practice on several occasions. Such superficial information can be misleading for consumers looking for a mixture containing mainly European or Hungarian honey.

The European Commission recently presented its proposals for amending the marketing regulations for agricultural products

This includes amending the honey directive. According to this, the countries of origin of the honeys that make up the mixture should be listed in all cases, except for small packages. The proposal is now being discussed by experts from member state governments and representatives of the European Parliament. In the future, Hungary would like to achieve during the negotiations that, in addition to listing the countries of origin, their proportion should also be indicated in percentage form, so that consumers get a complete picture of the origin of honey mixtures. With this tool, we are also trying to promote the protection of quality Hungarian honey against cheap imports from third countries.