hello everybody, thank you Jean-Francois Lariviere for pasting the reuters article.

in fact after more then 2 years of struggle the syndicate of lebanese beekeepers has managed to get the bill thru.


BEIRUT, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Lebanon has slapped a new tariff on honey that
effectively doubles the price of the 400-500 tonnes consumed annually in the
market, importers said on Monday.

>>>The Higher Council of Customs at the end of last week imposed a >>minimum
>>tariff of $5 per kilogram on imported honey and raised the tariff >>from 34 to
>>35 percent. Tariff was a flat 34 percent before the new decree.
in fact the tax neede to be flat because of the low prices of imported honey (namely 1$).

>>``It is ridiculous. Honey is not like bananas or apples of which >>there is
>>ample domestic production. They are effectively depriving people of >>eating
>>honey,'' said a large supermarket owner.

this is partially true in bad honey flow years, this year the local production was way higher then the "normal" years and the bill will help keep the prices profitable for local producers.



>>Imported honey accounts for 95 percent of the market, he said.

this is also widely exagerated, imports and exports of honey are published by the syndicate of lebanese beekeepers on http://YazBek.com/AraBee

>>Last year Lebanon raised customs two percent across the board and >>sharply
>>raised tariffs on agricultural goods, a move which free traders said
>>contradicted official policy to join regional and international trade >>pacts.

indeed lebanon is famous for its highly liberal open economy, the gvt/MPs signed the euro-med accords, GATT accords and bilateral accords with many countries to reduce tariffs, most include agricultural goods, and some of these pacts start in the year 2000, i suppose the customs will only be in place for a few years.
lebanese beekeepers have no state subsidees whatsoever,... and the yield/hive is low, i think the high tariffs is a short term solution, until we can find a way to make lebanese beekeeping sustainable thru marketing and consumer awareness, like all of us.
IMHO it is more positiv then negativ.


baxter yazbek
agric. eng.
founding member of the lebanese beekeeprs syndicate
http://yazbek.com discount beekeeping store
http://yazbek.com/AraBee The largest reference on beekeeping in arab countries.