New norms on antibiotics hit honey exports
Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 11
Punjab, the domestic market leader in honey exports, is facing stiff non-tax barriers imposed by major food importers in the USA and Europe. Most of these markets have lowered the maximum permissible levels of antibiotic residues in honey, thus creating hurdles in its export. Exporters in the region are concerned over the international markets lowering the maximum permissible limit of antibiotics like oxytetracycline (OTC) and tylosin in honey. With the introduction of new testing machines in those countries, especially in the USA and Germany, the maximum permissible limit of these antibiotics has gone down from 0.3 to 0.01 parts per million (ppm). These countries have also started taking much larger sample sizes for testing honey now.
A leading honey exporter from Punjab, requesting anonymity, said his consignment took several months to be cleared in the USA now. “Many honey exporters, after waiting for months, have started diverting exports to other countries in Europe. Some consignments that originally landed in the USA have been diverted to Germany,” he said.
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), the premier agricultural export organisation, is also in the loop over these non-tax barriers on Indian honey.
APEDA General Manager Tarun Bajaj said since Punjab was the hub of honey exports, they were telling exporters to get the samples tested here for any antibiotic residue. “We have state-of-the-art laboratories here for testing honey samples. But many exporters send their samples to various laboratories in Germany for testing, and after getting desired certification, these are being exported to the USA,” he said. Though the export consignments were delayed, none had been rejected so far, he added.
Dr PK Chhuneja, entomology professor at Punjab Agricultural University and a leading expert in beekeeping, said they were now advising beekeepers and honey exporters to restrict the use of antibiotics such as OTC and tylosin. The latter was a reserve antibiotic and should be rarely used.
