VietNamNet Bridge – The fall of honey output and the European Union’s temporary ban on Vietnamese honey have disrupted Vietnamese apiculture.

“Regulation” bans beekeeping

Dinh Quyet Tam, Secretary General of the Vietnam Beekeeping Association, said Vietnam’s honey output has decreased because of unfavourable weather and the ban on beekeeping in some provinces.

According to Tam, many people still don’t see bees as a useful insect for fruit trees. A commune in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak issued an odd regulation: local people are prohibited from raising bees. Farmers in another Central Highlands province, Lam Dong, light fires or spray insecticide to drive away honey bees from their gardens.

“We don’t understand why we have to ask for permission from various agencies to raise honey bees,” Tam said. Recently, a farmer in the southern province of Binh Phuoc asked permission to raise bees in his rubber garden. The director of a rubber company asked the farmer to show analyses that bees don’t harm rubber productivity.

On May 20, four beekeepers in Quang Ngai commune, Lam Dong province, were requested to move 1,000 bee hives from the commune because “the bees would harm 120ha of rice,” according to local authorities.

Honey revenue dropping year by year

According to Tam, last year Vietnam exported 14,000 tonnes of honey worth $25 million, a reduction of 2,000-3,000 tonnes compared to previous years. The decrease was partly caused by the reduction of honey output and the EU’s temporary halt on importing honey from Vietnam as of mid 2006. In 2002, Vietnam ranked second worldwide for honey export and it fell by 5-6 grades last year.

Since the beginning of 2008, honey output has continued to slide because of unfavourable weather and poor harvest of fruit trees. Many batches of exported honey have been returned because of containing false honey, sugar and antibiotic residues. In the local market, honey prices have increased sharply and beekeepers have been committing fraud by mixing sugar and treacle into honey.

Of even greater concern, Vietnam is becoming an intermediate country for the export of Chinese honey, which has been banned by importers.

“If the quality of Vietnamese honey is not improved the next spring honey season, Vietnam will face a boycott from honey-importing countries and Vietnamese beekeepers and honey companies may suffer bankruptcy,” said an expert.

European honey importers are asking Vietnamese honey to contain no more than 18.5% water while Vietnam’s standard is 22.5%. They have also requested that honey processors apply HACCP standards, which take time and money.

Bui Phuong Hoa, Deputy Director of the Central Veterinary Hygiene Centre, said the centre has a honey quality testing system and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development assigned the Veterinary Agency to collect bee samples from beekeeping farms for analysis. The Veterinary Agency initially registered to check for 20 quality standards, which has increased to 34 at present at the request of honey-importing countries. The EU recently sent experts to Vietnam to supervise honey quality.

“This June we will send our analyses of honey quality to the EU to clear the way for exporting honey to the EU,” Hoa said.

(Source: Nong Nghiep)