Honey, an important product that circulates on the European Union (EU) single market, and cherished for its unique characteristics since time immemorial, is also subject to strict regulatory oversight under EU law, given that “quality management and food safety are key issues in the European honey market”[1]. Besides ensuring the product’s compliance with food quality rules and regulations, the complex framework of EU legal instruments that touch upon the legal position of honey is designed to also guarantee transparency for consumers, while supporting fair competition on the market. The EU Honey Directive[2] is the most important piece of legislation targeting honey: definition, composition, types, labelling, information. In this short article, the key aspects of EU law related to honey will be explored, with a focus on its legal definition, the EU food legislation requirements, and an interesting case decided by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in relation to honey and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs).
In the abovementioned Directive, honey is defined in Annex I (1) – “Honey is the natural sweet substance produced by Apis mellifera bees from the nectar of plants or from secretions of living parts of plants or excretions of plant-sucking insects on the living parts of plants, which the bees collect, transform by combining with specific substances of their own, deposit, dehydrate, store and leave in honeycombs to ripen and mature.”[3]. This definition has to be the starting point for any discussion about honey on the EU market, since it outlines the key parameters according to which honey should be understood: its natural origin and the production process through which it goes. From a legal point of view, this strict reference helps to prevent fraudulent practices of trying to introduce on the market other products under the name of honey. Another relevant reference is made to the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) as the exclusive producer of honey, as it removes similar substances produced by other insects or via artificial procedures being misleadingly promoted as honey. Moreover, these strict limitations imposed on what is honey and what is not is visible also at the level of the production processes which are clearly depicted – “collecting nectar, transforming it, depositing, dehydrating, storing, and ripening” -, so that adulteration with other substances and manufacturing via industrial processes are avoided. In addition to all of these specific standards, the term “honeycombs” implies that the product must be in its traditional form, which is essential for meeting consumer expectations of what natural foods are.
This approach is also in line with the fundamental interests of the EU, which includes consumer protection, enshrined in Article 169 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Pursuant to this treaty provision, the Union pledges to safeguard consumers’ economic, health, and safety interests while also advancing their right to correct information, and education to protect those interests.[4]
Annex II of the EU Honey Directive, building upon the detailed definition explained above, lists the precise composition criteria for honey.
Besides compliance with the EU Honey Directive, before being placed on the EU market, honey needs to also abide by the EU food safety rules and regulations. In this sense, “Regulation No. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the European Council of January 28, 2002 establishing “the general principles and requirements of food law” and laying down “procedures in the field of food safety” represented a milestone in European Union food legislation.”[5]. Important to note is also that this regulation and EU food law in general have their legal basis on the TFEU Articles 43 (common agricultural policy and common fisheries policy), 114 (approximation of legislation of the Member States), 168 (public health protection), and 169 (consumer protection). In addition, pertinent primary law provisions pertaining to food law also include Articles 191 (environmental protection and precautionary principle) and 207 (common commercial policy based on uniform principles). The core principles of the EU food law are outlined in Articles 5 to 10 of the aforementioned regulation: risk analysis, the precautionary principle, protection of consumers’ interests, transparency and traceability, protection of human health, free movement of food, international standards and adaptation to them.
Within the European honey industry, niche markets for organic, and for monofloral honey are evolving. However, one who wishes to place organic or monofloral honey on the European market should anticipate additional quality standards and certification conditions that need to be complied with. In this vein, monofloral honey is that produced mostly from the nectar of a single kind of flower and it is regarded as a premium product with a distinct flavour and a distinctive scent, hence occasionally being priced higher. On the other hand, in case of organic honey, only honey that has been certified in accordance with the EU organic certification scheme may be marketed with this name. This certification is in conformity with the organic beekeeping standards, out of which the salient elements are: beehives must be positioned at least three kilometres away from significant chemical pollution sources; beehives must be constructed from natural materials; and natural remedies rather than pharmaceutical antibiotics must be used to treat potential diseases and pests. What is more, compared to ordinary honey, organic honey is subjected to more stringent testing for chemical residues and there is no tolerance for pesticide residues or other chemical pollutants among buyers of organic honey.[6]
Regarding the composition of honey, an interesting but rather questionable judgment was the Bablok decision[7], in which the CJEU held that pollen is an ingredient of honey instead of a naturally occurring component (or maybe a residue or even contaminant[8]), leading to the conclusion that honey which contains pollen from GMOs has to be classified as a food item that needs market authorisation. Therefore, in a remarkably contestable scenario, the entire honey harvest may become unmarketable if a bee gathers (without the intention of the beekeeper) pollen from a genetically engineered plant. The ruling demonstrated an abstract understanding of honey composition and, at the same time, of the risks posed by GMOs, since the ban on honey with almost non-existing traces of GMOs does not protect against a real harm to customers’ health.[9]
In essence, it can be concluded that the regulation of honey within the EU legal framework aims at securing that the product is safe for human consumption, at clearly mandating labelling requirements for the benefit of EU consumers and also EU producers, as well as at ensuring traceability and authenticity.
[1] https://www.cbi.eu/market-information/honey/what-requirements-should-your-product-comply.
[2] Council Directive 2001/110/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to honey.
[3] Ibid, Annex I.
[4] Clara Pettoello-Mantovani, Beatrice Olivieri, Food safety and public health within the frame of the EU legislation (2022), Global Pediatrics, Volume 2, 3.
[5] Ibid, 3.
[6] https://www.cbi.eu/market-information/honey/what-requirements-should-your-product-comply.
[7] Case C-442/09, Bablok and Others v Bayern (Grand Chamber, 2011).
[8] Moritz Hagenmeyer, ECJ Decision ignores EU Law in Honey/Pollen Case (2011), European Food and Feed Law Review, 6(5), 291-293.
[9] Matthias Lamping, Shackles for Bees? The ECJ’s Judgment on GMO-Contaminated Honey, European Journal of Risk Regulation, 3(1), 123-129.
