Govt to strengthen honey quality control for EU market re-entry

By Wisdom JONNY-NUEKPE

Government has pledged to tighten quality control for locally produced honey – thus securing re-entry into the lucrative European Union (EU) market.

As part of this plan, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) said it will procure advanced equipment for residue deposit testing, a critical requirement for meeting international quality standards. Officials believe this move will not only boost local honey’s competitiveness but also position the country as a credible supplier on the global stage.

The initiative comes after years of limited access to the EU market because of concerns over quality assurance. Industry players have welcomed government’s intervention, noting that enhanced testing capacity could open up new export opportunities and increase foreign exchange earnings for the economy.

The policy, as stated in MoFA’s Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) 2025-2028, explained that some 15 laboratory staff will be trained to man key equipment for diagnostics and quality honey delivery for the international market.

A professor of entomology at the Department of Conservation Biology – University of Cape Coast, Prof. Peter Kwapong, welcomed government’s plan as a strategic one.

Prof. Kwapong, who doubles as Director-International Stingless Bee Centre, said the move will enable honey exporters to target a grand re-entry into the EU.

Though there is currently no outright ban on honey exports from Ghana to the EU, recent EU regulations however require that honey-exporting companies and businesses must be listed on a European Commission list by November 2024 to continue exports.

This new requirement and timeline, which has elapsed,  aims to improve controls on imported honey and prevent adulteration.

There are suspicions and some evidence that honey from some parts of Africa and Asian countries are diluted.

A lack of listing for any specific Ghanaian establishment could therefore result in a ban on that particular establishment’s honey, but not a general ban on all local honey.

A key requirement is that exporting countries must submit an initial list of all apiculture establishments (including their name, address and activities) that wish to export into the EU.

Hence, businesses listed on the European Commission’s official webpage will be permitted to export honey into the EU after the new regulation’s effective date. Absence of any Ghanaian honey exporting business from this list means their honey cannot be exported.

For instance, climate change, environmental issues and heavy use of agrochemicals are threatening the survival and potential of the almost                      US$5billion domestic honey production sector, according to the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana (CAG).

A report from CAG on the industry’s dwindling fortunes said honey production booms in organic agroecology systems where bees thrive from a more natural environment than chemically polluted conditions.

The ever-increasing reliance on using chemicals – most of which are harmful to the survival of bees -the Chamber maintained, has become a bane to the honey sector.

Data from CAG indicate the country currently produces a little over                                 US$168million worth of honey annually, but that could skyrocket to more than  US$5billion if the right strategies are adopted and quality of the commodity given priority.

China, the second-largest global exporter of honey, made some US$359million from the commodity in 2024. Interestingly, that country also supplies 90 percent of global adulterated honey production, as its honey products do not constitute even 30 percent of natural honey.

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