The authors of the document cited also posted a plainly-worded explanation
for their regulation.
https://apiads.es/importaciones-de-abejas-de-razas-foraneas/
"Given with the [biosanitary] situation of beekeeping in third countries,
and in order to bar the small hive beetle (Aethina tumida), which causes
Aethinosis, and Tropilaelaps clareae, which produces Tropilaelapsosis, it is
necessary to adopt, as a precaution a prohibition on bees (Apis mellifera),
populated hives, lots of queens with or without companions, and biological
beekeeping material, from third countries, under the protection of Article
30 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, which states that
prohibitions or restrictions on the import, export or transit for reasons of
protection of the health and life of animals may be established. The
prohibition shall not apply where a health certificate expressly states that
the absence of such means of transmission [of the pest or disease] has been
confirmed in the territory of origin."
So the same Strachan health certificate that allows bees to move across
state lines within the USA, attesting to the lack of SHB, Tropilaelaps not
being found at all in California, allows me to self-certify compliance with
the above.
Of course the above Regulation applies to the Spanish Mainland, rather than
the Canaries, as in the Canary Islands the main trade in bees is with the
countries of West Africa, and bees from Europe would not be welcome at all,
due to the risk of Tropilaelaps. There were a few beekeepers over on La
Palma running "small cell" Iberian (Spain/Portugal) stock which they loudly
proclaimed to be varroa tolerant due to the small cells, but I have not
heard from them since the pandemic and the 2013 eruption of Tajogaite on La
Palma.
But again, from an area that can certify that both its stock and the region
around them are free of the notifiable diseases and pests, there's no
barrier under the WTO, as it is the WTO that makes the rules here, not
individual countries, certainly not beekeepers.
Spain buys packages from Italy all the time, and they are self-certifying
under the WTO rules as to the status of their bees too.
Do I need a specific permit to simply change planes in Madrid airport and
continue on to the Canaries? No, I don't, I am not "on Spanish (mainland)
soil" until I leave the controlled area, so the questions I have to ask are
about the Canaries, not about the Spanish mainland.
So, I feign in Spain to stay mainly on the plane.
But it's not about me changing planes in Spain, or my insignificant hobby
bees, it's about what the authorities can do. The situation with the varroa
in New South Wales Australia in 2022, led to the destruction of about 14,000
colonies of bees, and then an unconditional surrender to the mites after
about a year.
We did much better at biosecurity before the WTO was able to dictate to
purportedly sovereign governments, but I made that argument decades ago in
Bee Culture magazine, which had no effect on anyone but Senator Larry Craig
of Idaho, who would have done some great things for beekeepers, but made a
career-ending poor choice of bathrooms at MSP airport in 2007.
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