The National Bee Board would like to place on record its views on media reports regarding the quality tests conducted by the CSE on some popular brands of honey. These have been highlighted across TV channels and the print media. (September 15/16, 2010) Naturally concerns have been felt in several quarters about the long term implications of consumption of such honey, and whether the government has/intends putting systems in place to ensure that the anomalies mentioned in the CSE report are addressed within a specific time frame. The NBB does not doubt the veracity of the findings of CSE, but would like to place issues in perspective, and also to assure the stakeholders – bee keepers, processing units, exporters, health authorities, and of course the general public that the National Bee Board has drawn up a comprehensive action plan to ensure that over the next few months, honey produced and sold in India will conform to globally accepted norms.
This press conference is to share NBBs short, medium and long term vision about bee keeping in general, and honey in particular, especially because a clear strategy is in place to address the issues that have been raised by CSE.
Issues Raised by CSE
- That bee keepers in India are using banned/unauthorized antibiotics to raise the production of honey, and applying it in non-recommended dosage for enhancing honey production ,
- that the introduction of Apis Mellifera ( a honey bee with European rootstock),vice Apis Cerena (Indian honeybee) has led to an increase in the use of antibiotics,
- that nearly half the samples of some popular brands of honey had traces of antibiotics, which were much higher than the norms laid down for exports to the European Union,
- that honey exports to EU and US have been banned time and again on account of non compliance with the norms of the importing countries, and
- That the Government of India is both unaware of, and unconcerned about the state of affairs.
In order to understand each of these issues, it is important to understand the context of bee keeping and honey production in the country, the legally enforceable ‘standards’, the norms of the EU and US, and the steps that are currently being taken by NBB with support from the DAC and ICAR, Ministry of Agriculture, EIC (Ministry of Commerce) and FSSAI (Ministry of Health)
Honey Production in India
Unlike EU and US where honey is produced by professional bee keepers on a commercial scale, Indian honey is either collected from the wild or produced by BPL families and marginal and small landholders. Over 2.6 lakh families are involved in bee keeping. As the volumes which they produce are not marketable commercially, they are aggregated for processors, who in turn market honey under their own brands, or sell to larger marketing companies. Getting traceability systems in place and enforcing Good Beekeeping Practices (GBP) in place is therefore a major challenge, which the NBB is trying to address. However, with the establishment of the NBB in 2006, steps are being taken to register every bee keeper so that targeted communication can be made. All states have been requested to notify a SLA (state level agency) to undertake this task. This will also help NBB inform its primary stakeholders about scientific bee keeping. The Agriculture and Horticulture Department of all state governments, Vice Chancellors of all Agriculture Universities and ICAR institutions and KVIBs have been advised to spread the message to bee keepers and farmers to avoid the use of antibiotics, pesticides and other chemicals to protect bee colonies. These campaigns have been carried out in…of the … honey producing districts in the country. However much more obviously needs to be done. ICAR has launched an AICRP on honey and this is also expected to give a fillip to these efforts. Once the detailed recommendations are available, a Pop will be prepared and disseminated to all the bee keepers in the country. It must be mentioned here that application of OTC (over the counter ) antibiotics to bee colonies is part of the general malaise in the country and it does not seem realistic to ban the sale of these antibiotics. Episodic enquiries suggest that farmers are using antibiotics to address problems of bee health, and not for production enhancement.
Quality issues in Honey: Three Basic Standards
There are three ‘standards’ to judge and grade honey. The default global standard, viz Codex Alimenterus, the EU’s GMP for Honey and the ‘composition standards’ which are currently in vogue in India as well as most South Asian, West Asian and SE Asian countries. In India, these ‘composition standards’ are registered by Agmark, BIS and PFA authorities. It is true that ‘composition standards’ do not have any parameters for antibiotics, and the main reason for this is that till very recently, the bulk of Indian honey was coming from the wild, or natural bee colonies. Even today, wild honey accounts for 25 MT of the total honey production in India (55 MT). This honey, which includes the famous Sunderbans Honey and the honey from the higher reaches of Himalaya, is the best possible honey in the world.
It may be also be clarified that the EIC carries out inspections for exportable honey, based on the standards set by the importing countries. Meanwhile , NBB has prepared the draft ‘standards’ for Indian honey, and these have been forwarded to the State Level Agencies for their comments and suggestions. These will be forwarded to the FSSAI, BIS, Agmark and PFA after discussion with stakeholders. These organizations have also been requested to give their suggestions on the standards that may be brought in place.
Honey Testing Laboratory
Even if these standards were place, there would be issues regarding facilities for commercial testing of RMP, antibiotics and other parameters as per EU/Codex norms. NBB is now setting up a world class Honey testing laboratory which can carry out all the relevant tests , including the C 13 (isotope test) to check out all possible residues. The specifications for this lab have been frozen, and it is being established at NASC complex. The lab is expected to become functional by October 2011.
NBB’s strategy:
Short Run:
i) Exports to EU, Traceability systems and Food Grade Containers
In the short run, (next three months), NBB will work jointly with honey processors, EIC and other stakeholders to get the ban on export of Indian honey removed. This will be done by clearly segregating the supply chain for EU exports. Every bee keeper whose product can be part of the EU supplies will follow GBPP, and the responsibility for traceability will vest in the aggregator/processor/exporter.
Within this period, food grade plastic containers will be given to ALL beekeepers engaged in the primary collection of honey for processors who have been supplying honey traditionally to the EU.
Medium Term (three months to one year)
Within the next few months, standards for Indian honey will be notified, and processing units informed about these standards. Also ensure that honey imported into India, mainly from China, will also conform to these standards.
The NBB would like to clarify that suggestions made by the EU team after RMP inspection by EIC have been followed up in the right earnest, and NBB is confident that in the next round of inspection (December/January), corrective steps, especially with regard to traceability will be in place. While it may be true that some of the popular brands may not have rigorous inspection systems in place while procuring honey from the primary producers, many export oriented units, with a substantial share in the domestic market have traceability registers and testing facilities which could compete with competition elsewhere in the world, including EU and US.
Long Term
Over the next three years, this protocol for exports to EU will be extended to all bee processing facilities, irrespective of whether the honey is meant for export to EU, US or for domestic consumption . Within this period each and every bee keeper will be registered, insured and incentivized to produce the best quality honey. Together with KVIB , SAUs, SLAs, NHM and the HNMEH, the scope and scale of bee keeping will be at least doubled, and the economic returns to primary producers per kg of honey will be in tandem. Bee keeping will focus on ‘pollination support’ to flowering crops, rather than production of honey because the economic value of support to enhanced crops production many times higher than the returns from production of honey!