HC Deb 04 July 1974 vol 876 cc580-1
5. Mr. Dalyell

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will take action to ensure that amateur beekeepers in the United Kingdom retain the right to sell honey with certain "impurities" in the light of a proposed EEC draft instrument R608/74 of 11 March 1974 requiring the rendering of complex statistical information on the contents of a jar of honey; and if he has any readily available figures of the number of people who have suffered illness, bodily harm or death as a result of eating heather or other "impure" honey.

Mr. Bishop

Existing United Kingdom law does not allow the sale of honey containing unacceptable amounts of impurities. The EEC proposals now require that honey shall, as far as practicable, be free from extraneous matter. It is not proposed that detailed information about the composition of honey need be stated on the label of the jar.

With regard to the last part of the Question, no figures are available.

Mr. Dalyell

In that case, cannot we make sure that some of the draft instruments churned out in Brussels are a little less unreal?

Mr. Bishop

I am not sure whether my hon. Friend is speaking from his experience as a member of the Scrutiny Committee, in which case he will be aware of some of the matters which he has raised.

With regard to negotiations since the EEC draft to which my hon. Friend refers, amendments have been made to the proposals to take account of representations received from honey producers, consumers and other United Kingdom interests. My hon. Friend may be interested to know that, so far, 77 communications have been issued to British honey interests, including Scottish beekeepers.

Mr. Scott-Hopkins

Does not the hon. Gentleman agree that all the important reservations made by the United Kingdom have been accepted in the revised draft regulation which will come through, and that it will in no way be harmful to beekeeping and honey producing throughout the United Kingdom?

Mr. Bishop

I believe that that is substantially true. As the hon. Gentleman will know, there are no special regulations concerning British honey. I hope that as a result of our negotiations with the EEC some aspects of this matter will be influenced in the Community. I believe that there will be virtually no change in the present situation in this country, and that will help British exporters.