Activities of Momchil NEKOV related to 2017/2115(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Prospects and challenges for the EU apiculture sector (A8-0014/2018 - Norbert Erdős) BG
Prospects and challenges for the EU apiculture sector (debate) BG
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on prospects and challenges for the EU apiculture sector PDF (401 KB) DOC (96 KB)
Amendments (96)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the beekeeping sector is an integral part of European agriculture, providing over 500 000 EU citizens with their main income or additional earnings; whereas beekeeping is practiced also as a hobby or for production of honey for own consumption;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the sector develops and maintains additional activities such as production of materials for example wooden frames, beehives and others, as well as technique, which can also contribute to the development of the local and regional economies;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas the apitourism generates greater interest and opportunities among consumers in recent years, which can be further popularised to more stakeholders;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas pollination is the primary purpose of the bees, while production of honey, honey wax and other products is a secondary product from the activities of the bees; whereas the agriculture in the EU can be characterised as monocultural or with a limited plant variety;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
Ad. whereas good theoretical knowledge combined with a practical training is a prerequisite for better understanding and dealing with the challenges ahead of the bee families;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the beekeeping sector is hugely significant (around EUR 14.2 annually), as 84 % of plant species and 76 % of food production are dependent on pollination by bees, which also helps maintain the ecological balance and biological diversity in Europe; recalling also the importance of pollination for food security in Europe and in the world;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas on 26 February 2016 in Kuala-Lumpur a report was published by the experts of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) which sounded the alarm on the decline in pollinators, of which the European domestic honey bee (apis mellifera) is the most widespread pollinator in the world;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas per nature the beekeeping is often practiced in the open and the beehives are thus exposed to additional external factors such as attacks from wild animals;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas the urban beekeeping gathers popularity in recent years, which shows sustainability, interest and has the potential of increasing awareness among a broader circle of citizens, including children, about the nature and benefits from beekeeping;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas in 2004 the Commission guaranteed EUR 32 million to national beekeeping programmes for the sole benefit of beekeeping, and whereas this had been increased to 36 million by 2006 (representing 3 thousandths of the CAP budget); whereas for the period 2017-2019 EUR 108 million are foreseen for support of the national programmes for the apiculture sector from the EU budget;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas the national programmes for the apiculture sector have a positive effect, but there are some problems in their national application and they do not always enjoy the full confidence of the sector;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas there is a need for beekeepers to operate in harmony with the services which they carry out and to do so responsibly and professionally and in conjunction and cooperation with farmers;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas in some Member States the tax laws differentiate between professional and amateur beekeepers, with the latter benefiting from tax relief, although this makes no sense professionallyvarying rules concerning tax relief;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas some invasive alien species such as Varroa destructor, the small hive beetle, the Asian hornet and American foulbrood are causing widespread destruction in the European bee population and causing serious harm to beekeepersthe decline in the European bee population, the adverse effects of which extend far beyond the beekeeping sector, is mainly due, according to the scientific community, to changes in land use, intensive farming practices and the large-scale use of pesticides, invasive species (e.g. Asian hornet and American foulbrood), the proliferation of parasites including the Varroa destructor, genetic problems, the degeneration of habitats and the disappearance of many species of flowering plant;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas bees, as pollinators, play an important role in our food and agriculture systems and are excellent indicators of the quality of our environment that should sensitise us to agricultural practices which are more natural-resource friendly and which draw directly on the concept of agro-ecology, combining good economic performance and environmental performance to produce more and better;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas beekeepers, agricultural producers and environmentalists also expect there to be a clear scientific consensus on all substances and other factors which are a danger to bees’ health; but whereas researchers and EFSA have already identified the dangers posed to bees by some neonicotinoids whose use, after being suspended, might be definitively banned following their re- evaluation;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas beekeepers, agricultural producers and environmentalists also expect there to bin shortest terms to achieve a clear scientific consensus on all substances, particularly those for plant-protection, such as the neonicotinoids, and other factors which are a danger to bees’ health;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas this statistical increase results in part from the steady rise in Member State numbers and in part from the particular situation of the sector, since each Member State furnishes data for the period with the highest number of bee colonies in a given year;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas beekeepers always produce less honey once the winter is over, because of autumn and winter losses which can be as much as 50% in some Member States; whereas in some regions the mortality rate of the winter has surpassed 50%, reaching to 100% in some cases with various reasons behind this;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas the two-fold increase in the amount of honey produced and exported in some countries over the past 15 years whilst the EU is barely 560% self-sufficient in honey – a figure which is not increasing – cannot be explained;
Amendment 122 #
O. whereas the EU imports 25% of the honey it uses (60% of its annual imports) each year from these countries, which is why Europe’s beekeepers are in dire straits; whereas the EU imports highest quantities of honey from People's republic of China, Ukraine, Argentina and Mexico;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas consumers are aware that no more than one third of the honey they use is produced in the EU; often think they are eating honey from the EU, whereas a proportion of that honey comes from third countries and is sometimes mixed with EU honey, while some of the imported honey is adulterated;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas consumersa big part of the consumers in the EU are unaware that no more than one third of the honey they use is produced in the EU;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital R
Recital R
R. whereas approximately 100 000 tonnes of imported honey arrives in the EU from China everyduring the last few years – double the amount in 2002 – even though the number of bee colonies has declined in other parts of the world;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital S a (new)
Recital S a (new)
Sa. whereas not all member states have laboratories, which can conduct full honey analyses, which causes a challenge for the sector in trying to use the opportunities for marketing the products on the single European market;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Z
Recital Z
Z. whereas many honey packagers and traders now abuse this way of indicating origin in order to conceal the real country of origin, as well as the proportion of honey from the different countries, as purchasers are becoming more knowledgeable and are distrustful of foodstuffs from certain countries;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AC
Recital AC
AC. whereas annual honey consumption varies hugely across the Member States: whilst Member States in Western Europe have an average consumption of 2.5-2.7 kg per person, the figure for Hungary, for example, is just 0.7 kgthe countries from the 2004, 2007 and 2013 enlargements are as low as 0.7 kg in some cases;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AC a (new)
Recital AC a (new)
ACa. whereas the European quality schemes and particularly the GI schemes have a great importance for the preservation and creation of jobs; whereas more than 30 GIs for honey have been registered so far; whereas "European" and "made in Europe" is often associated with products with high value;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AD
Recital AD
AD. whereas the positive physiological impact of honey, particularly in terms of health, means that it should be promoted and its consumption encouraged in all the Member States;given its antiseptic, anti- inflammatory and healing properties, means that it should be promoted among medical and paramedical practitioners and its consumption encouraged in all the Member States; calls for the future common agricultural policy to recognise apitherapy as a priority
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AF
Recital AF
AF. whereas other beekeeping products such as pollen, propolis, beeswax and royal jelly also contribute significantly to people’s wellbeing and play an important role in the healthcare and cosmetics industries and they are looked for from the consumers as a part of a more natural way of life;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AF a (new)
Recital AF a (new)
AFa. whereas timely and precise data collection is important for faster and more accurate planning; whereas the new technologies and digitalisation can have a crucial role in cutting costs and times; whereas some technologies can have hidden effects on the bees via the use of electromagnetic waves among others;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AF a (new)
Recital AF a (new)
AFa. whereas only a complete cultivation ban on GMOs will protect all bees from GM pollen and protect European consumers from honey contaminated by GM pollen;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Understandlines that bees perform a basic agricultural service by pollinating crops, without which European agriculture and in particular plant cultivation would not exist in any form;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Understands that beekeeping makes a fundamental contribution to maintaining the ecological balance and biological diversity, so that the sector must be at the heart of the common agricultural policy and of an agricultural policy reoriented towards sustainable development enabling improved biodiversity, which is indispensable to bees’ survival and repopulation;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Understandlines that beekeeping makes a fundamental contribution to maintaining the ecological balance and biological diversity, so that the sector must be at the heart of the common agricultural policy;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Understands that financing of beekeeping for food and therapeutic purposes must be increased in future agricultural policy;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Understandlines that financing of beekeeping must be considerably increased in future agricultural policy;
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Considers investment in technical and scientific know-how essential in the beekeeping sector, which suffers badly, in spite of its potential, from a lack of specialists, information and knowledge; investment in research must be geared towards genetic and veterinary aspects (vaccines...), given beekeepers’ very inadequate knowledge of these areas.
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Recalls that, in addition to national beekeeping plans, the CAP currently has a vast array of tools which can be brought to bear in support of the beekeeping sector. These include, in particular, crop diversification measures, ecological focus areas (EFAs), organic farming measures and measures to support other forms of sustainable agriculture, agro-environmental and climatic measures, measures targeting disadvantaged regions, measures in the Natura 2000 and Habitats Directive, product quality measures and those concerned with the diversification of activities on farms, investment measures to restore ecosystems, forestry measures, installation measures, the European Innovation Partnership...
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Considers that the collective management of ecological focus areas with their biodiversity might be extremely useful in terms of food for bees and of their habitat; this communal management may in fact contribute to the establishment of ecological corridors (land left fallow for flowers, tree plantations...) which, by ensuring the presence of bees, allows for increased yields of crops planted alongside the EFAs through improved pollination.
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to include a new direct support scheme for beekeepers, while developing, asserting and incorporating a fair payment for ecological services, such as pollination, which is done by all bees of every registered bee family based on colony numbers in its proposals for the common agricultural policy post-2020;
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to include a new direct ecosystemic support scheme for beekeepers based on colony numbers in its proposals for the common agricultural policy post-2020;
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Considers it necessary to develop the potential of beekeeping by further professionalising the sector, in which the vast majority of participants are amateurs (less than 5% in Europe are specialists); considers that developing beekeeping in order to produce hive products and/or swarms for repopulation provides opportunities for jobs and income for farms looking to diversify or for young people aiming to set up as beekeepers, without the need for huge investments at the time of their establishment.
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Sees a need for the European Union and the Member States to implement a large-scale strategy of bee repopulation in a coordinated fashion because of the threat of extinction.
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Considers that it would be wise to broaden and share beekeeping research topics and the findings which result, along the lines of the Apitherapy project consortium – particularly where these are financed by the EU – among the Member States in order to avoid duplication;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Urges the European Commission and the member states to launch a network of institutes and other scientific and academic establishments, which deal with bees, their lives and products of activities for faster, smoother and more effective exchange of information on bee- related topics;
Amendment 257 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission to adopt recommendations in order to introduce a uniform, high-quality basic and vocational beekeeping education programme, as well as beekeeping training, in the EU;
Amendment 263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Considers that beekeepers should be granted tax relief in every Member State in view of the agricultural and environmental significance of their work; urges the member states to cut the unnecessary red-tape, which will save time, efforts and financial resources from the beekeepers;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. calls on the beekeepers for an active dialogue with the competent authorities for a more effective application of the national programmes for the apiculture programmes with the aim of improving them and correcting any occurring problems;
Amendment 269 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Reaffirms its support for the pilot project launched by Parliament aimed at restructuring the beekeeping sector and at the breeding and selection programme for research into Varroa resistance, which should be implemented soon.
Amendment 278 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. underlines the advantages of well prepared and informed beekeepers and encourages the member states to consider a compulsory prerequisite and not an additional advantage for taking part in the national programmes for the apiculture sector;
Amendment 288 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3 a (new)
Subheading 3 a (new)
underlines that bee health is based on a substantial diversity of pollen and a wide variety of nourishment of the surroundings of bees; points out that monocultural farming does not provide this necessity and therefore stands for a loss of food habitats for bees;
Amendment 289 #
The state of foraging grounds for bees
Amendment 311 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission to involve all relevant drug producers in research into bee drugs and to set up a common IT platform to share best solutions and drugs with interested parties;boost research possibilities aimed at solving the problem of parasites and bee diseases and to supplement these with a common IT platform to share best practices and make people aware of the available solutions.
Amendment 314 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Calls on Member States to provide financial support for the research, development and field testing of new bee- health medicines, taking account of the high costs of these veterinary drugs in comparison with those in other livestock sectors; highlights, moreover, the need to offer the pharmaceutical industry greater incentives in order to develop new medicinal products to combat bee mortality;
Amendment 324 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Stresses the importance of greater cooperation between beekeepers, farmers, industry, the authorities and scientists in order to investigate the causes of increased bee mortality and, to that end, supports the establishment of an EU reference laboratory (EURL) for bees, thereby improving coordination between Member States, also in order to identify standard bee welfare criteria;
Amendment 331 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Member States and the regions to use all means possible to protect all local and regional bee varietiesstrains of Apis mellifera bees present in Europe from the undesirable spread of naturalised or invasive alien varietspecies in the EU;
Amendment 333 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Appreciates the extraordinary genetic heritage and the diversity of bee populations, which render them able to adapt to the peculiarities of any ecosystem and to the local conditions of any region; emphasises the need to maintain this genetic heritage, whose diversity is important in the fight against invasive species and diseases and which will have a long-term impact on maintaining bee populations.
Amendment 338 #
13b. Recalls the right of the Member States to set up protected areas for each honey-producing strain of the Apis mellifera bee, which is present in Europe, in connection with the UN’s 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity.
Amendment 340 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the European Food Safety Authority to carry outpursue its toxicological research (laboratory analyses and field experiments), according to a clearly- determined schedule and together with the other EU agencies concerned, into all substances and other factors which endanger bee health; likely to endanger bee health and to recommend that they be banned if they are found to be toxic; calls at the same time for alternative products or methods to be found to replace these substances which pose a risk to bees.
Amendment 341 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the European Food Safety Authority to carry out research (laboratory analyses and field experiments) in shortest terms and preferably before the end of 2018, according to a clearly-determined schedule and together with the other EU agencies concerned, into all substances, particularly those, which are used in the plant-protection, such as neonicotinoids, and other factors which endanger bee health;
Amendment 343 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Calls on the Commission to increase the level of support for research into bee health and to focus the research on technological developments, on disease prevention and control (in particular the impact of environmental factors on the immune systems of bee colonies and their interactions with diseases), on developing sustainable farming practices, promoting non-chemical alternatives (i.e. agronomic prevention practices such as crop rotation and the use of biological control) and, in general, further encouraging integrated pest management techniques and the development of veterinary medical products to combat current EU bee pathogens, especially the Varroa destructor mite, which is the main pathogen and which, given its great ability to develop resistance, requires a wider variety of active substances to combat it, as well as to combat endoparasites and other opportunistic diseases;
Amendment 344 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14а. Notes that the imposition of a monocultural model of agriculture is apparent in the EU, with the effect of disrupting biodiversity and limiting the quality of foraging grounds for bees; calls on the Member States, in cooperation with beekeepers and their associations and with agricultural producers, to develop, by the end of 2018, strategies for sowing a minimum percentage of land with a mix of nectiferous plants; calls for the sowing of nectiferous vegetation on less productive and/or unused land;
Amendment 356 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Urges the Commission and Member States to prohibit the use of pesticides which are harmful for bees, as for instance neonicotinoids like imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and clothianidin;
Amendment 358 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Calls on the European Food Safety Authority to draw up an international inventory to evaluate the emerging health risks in beekeeping.
Amendment 363 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Reiterates concerns that increased mortality among honeybees and wild pollinators in Europe will, if left unchecked, have a profound negative impact on agriculture, food production and security, biodiversity, environmental sustainability and ecosystems;
Amendment 366 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Amendment 373 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Calls on the Member States to draw up strategies for the territorial distribution of insect-friendly plant species at risk of extinction;
Amendment 374 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Calls for support for training programmes for beekeepers on disease prevention and control, as well as for farmers and foresters on botanical knowledge, bee-friendly use of plant protection products, the impact of pesticides and non-chemical agronomic practices to prevent the spread of weeds;
Amendment 378 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, to come up with a recommended level for the maximum number of bee colonies on a given area of land, as a means of tackling the location of too many apiaries in particular regions, which results in bees competing for and having difficulty in finding foraging grounds;
Amendment 381 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Underlines that the best protection of bees is to preserve abiotic resources, in particular soil and waters;
Amendment 382 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 d (new)
Paragraph 14 d (new)
14d. Points out that the number of bee species is drastically declining worldwide and that the use of pesticides and GMOs are among the main causes; calls on the Commission to improve risk assessment methodology for pesticides in order to protect colony health and bee population development; calls on the Member States to promote low-pesticide-input pest management and integrated pest management;
Amendment 384 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 d (new)
Paragraph 14 d (new)
Amendment 385 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 d (new)
Paragraph 14 d (new)
14d. Calls for the use of environment- friendly pesticides that are not harmful to bees and other natural pollinators to be encouraged, for example through the introduction of appropriate compulsory labelling of pesticides;
Amendment 387 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 e (new)
Paragraph 14 e (new)
14e. Urges to protect basic ecosystem services of pollination by relying on current scientific knowledge regarding the damage and susceptibility of honey bees as well as on the precautionary principle; urges that protective measures should be extended to wild pollinators, as these play a crucial role with regard to pollination services;
Amendment 390 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 e (new)
Paragraph 14 e (new)
14e. Calls for the development of compulsory training modules, for agricultural producers engaged in the cultivation of land, on the importance of bees as pollinators and how to protect them from being poisoned by pesticides;
Amendment 393 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 f (new)
Paragraph 14 f (new)
14f. Urges the Commission to collect analyses on the threat for wild bees in the EU and to develop strategies in order to stop the decimation of wild bees;
Amendment 396 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Expects the Member States and the Commission to force honey-producers in non-EU countries who use dishonest methods and EU packagers and traders who wilfully mix adulterated, imported honey with high-quality European honey to comply with EU law, or to penalise them;
Amendment 399 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Calls on the Commission to lay down NAL protocols (no-action levels), reference points for action (RPAs), or maximum residue limits (MRLs) for honey and other bee-keeping products, in order to cover substances that cannot be authorised for the European bee-keeping sector, and to harmonise border veterinary inspections and internal market checks, bearing in mind that, as far as honey is concerned, low-quality imports, adulteration, and substitutes distort the market and are continuing to exert pressure on prices and, ultimately, product quality within the EU's internal market, and that there has to be a level playing field for products/producers from the EU and from non-EU countries;points out that maximum residue limits should be based on the residues resulting from good veterinary practice;
Amendment 404 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Calls on the Commission to develop an official data base of honeys to categorise their origin using a common method of analysis.
Amendment 405 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Urges the Commission to ensure greater harmonisation by introducing common and binding specifications for honey production so as to facilitate the detection of fraud and guarantee the traceability of honey for consumers.
Amendment 407 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Suggests making honey packaging plants which also process imported honey subject to EU food safety monitoring; this might be achieved by amending Regulation (EC) No 853/2004;
Amendment 420 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
Amendment 434 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Asks that the ‘blend of EC and non- EC honeys’ descriptor be replaced by an indication of exactly which country or countries the honeys used in the final products come from and that these be listed in the order which corresponds to the proportions used in the final product with percentage numbers for the proportion of honey from every country;
Amendment 436 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Asks that the ‘blend of EC and non- EC honeys’ descriptor on labels be replaced by an indication of exactly which country or countries the honeys used in the final products come from and that these be listed in the order which corresponds to the proportions usede proportion from each of those countries, as a percentage, in the final product;
Amendment 437 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. Calls on the Commission to harmonise labelling rules in line with the regulation on quality schemes for agricultural products and to introduce labelling with mandatory indication of the country of origin for bee-keeping products, whether imported or made in the EU, or, for blends of products of different origins, labelling with mandatory indication of all the countries of origin, specifying the proportions contained;
Amendment 444 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Requests that the Commission amend the Honey Directive 2001/110/EC by means of a directive on apiculture products that circumscribes all such products:honey, propolis, royal jelly, beeswax, pollen pellets, bee bread and bee venom;
Amendment 460 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 6
Subheading 6
Encouraging honey consumption and, promoting honey and therapeutic use of honey
Amendment 461 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Calls on the Commission to draw up a report on the amount of honey consumed and consumption patterns in the EU along with a report on the various therapeutic practices employing honey, pollen, royal jelly and bee venom in the EU;
Amendment 462 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Calls on the Commission to draw up a report on the amount of honey consumed and consumption patterns in all member states of the EU;
Amendment 470 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Calls on the Commission to allocate a specific sum from the EU’s promotional budget to advertising EU eating and therapeutic honey in the internal market;
Amendment 472 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32 a. calls on the European Commission to include honey wax as a product, which can be covered by Regulation 1151/2012 because of the growing interest from the consumers and producers, as well as the long traditions in some member states in its production;
Amendment 475 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32a. Calls for the Horizon2020 and Erasmus+ Programmes to nurture research and training in the field of apitherapy;
Amendment 478 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Asks the Commission to ensure that the EU declares honey and other bee products to be ‘sensitive products’ in free trade agreement negotiations and that they are excluded from the coverage of these agreements;
Amendment 480 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33 a. calls on the European commission to consider introduction of the brand "Honey from Europe" for honey, which is produced by 100% honey collected in the member states of the European Union;