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Our honey is
of a lot higher
standard, but
we don’t apply
that standard to
imported honey
LINDSAY BOURKE
Imports hitting honey
From page 1
He said some of the imported
products being labelled as honey
have never been near a bee and
others have been highly 昀椀ltered to
remove dangerous chemicals insecticides and herbicides used on crops
where it is produced.
“It’s an international problem and
it’s a real threat to good beekeeping
globally,” he said.
“There are so many pressures
against people running a beekeeping business now, it was always a
challenging industry, but now it’s
becoming dire.”
Mr Wolfhagen said the first
step needed to address the issue is
the introduction of a clear honey
standard.
Mr Bourke said at present the
only quality standard requirement
on imported honey was a reasonable
moisture content.
“We let ourselves down in Australia in that department. Our honey is
of a lot higher standard, but we don’t
apply that standard to imported
honey,” he said.
Mr Wolfhagen said it made no
sense that the Government had spent
more than $230 million combating
varroa mite, while allowing huge
amounts of inferior product to come
into the country.
“There are no restrictions or limits to what can be imported into the
country,” he said.
“It seems idiotic, to me, why
would we spend $230 million of
taxpayers’ money to protect the bee
industry, when on the other side we
don’t even protect the competition
of products being imported. It’s
really dire.”
The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council has now established an
imported honey sub committee.
Earlier this year, the committee
met legal experts who specialise
in export and import trade laws to
investigate the issue.
During the meeting the committee discussed the options available
to investigate countervailing and/
or anti-dumping action on imported
honey.
The committee says it is working
through the information and will
advise honey producers about its
planned next steps to address the
issue.
Crisis
warning
on visa
changes
AUSTRALIAN farmers are warning
they will change what they grow or
even walk away from farming if their
access to overseas workers is reduced.
New data from a National Farmers’ Federation survey of producers
from nearly every commodity shows
farmers are abandoning the Paci昀椀c
Australia Labour Mobility Scheme.
The survey comes as visa fee rises
and changes to the United Kingdom
backpacker rules also loom.
NFF President David Jochinke said
the Federal Government’s panacea
to agriculture’s workforce woes, the
PALM Scheme, appears to be faltering with Department of Employment
and Work Relations data showing
an 11 per cent fall in the number of
PALM workers employed in agriculture in the six months to January.
“With the Government piling on
red tape to access the PALM Scheme,
farmers are turning to other sources
for workers, making backpackers an
even more critical part of the agricultural workforce than ever before,” Mr
Jochinke said.
The survey showed a third of the
farm workforce was backpackers
during busy harvest periods.
From July 1, British backpackers
will no longer be required to work
in regional areas and visa fees will
jump 25 per cent, making Australia
one of the most expensive countries
in the world for backpackers to visit.
“It is clear any further eroding the
88-day requirement for backpackers to work on farms will have major
rami昀椀cations for producers, with 35
per cent of farmers saying it would
have a ‘catastrophic’ impact,” Mr
Jochinke said.
“Alarmingly, farmers are warning
if access to backpackers is eroded
further it will mean increases in food
prices, a fatiguing workforce and, in
the worst case, farmers walking away
from the industry.”
More than half of farmers surveyed
said they would consider switching
commodities or leaving the industry
altogether if access to workers was
reduced.
“We need the Government to stop
debilitating farmers’ access to overseas workers,” Mr Jochinke said.
“If they’re not prepared to get serious about 昀椀nding alternative pathways, they need to reinforce existing
measures, rather than eroding and dismantling them.”
Results from the survey found on
average backpackers make up about
33 per cent of farmers’ workforce.
About 40 per cent of farmers said
the phase-out of UK backpackers will
have a catastrophic impact on their
businesses.
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