>>> Walter Patton <[log in to unmask]> 07/27 6:01 PM >>>
Has anybody ever checked the honey being imported to see if there is any trace of illegal drugs in the honey.

There is a reference to official limits of varroacide residues in honey in various countries:

Wallner, K.  1999.  Varroacides and their residues in bee products.  Apidologie. 30: 235-248.

The paper states that in the US there are official residues for honey for fluvalinate and amitraz.  That is to say, honey with levels exceeding these limits, domestic or imported, would not be able to be sold.  NOW, for pest control products not registered in the US, the policy is that a very very low limit is set by proxy- I think the level may be set at the current level of detection.  The philosophy I imagine is to err way on the side of caution as US regulators do not review foreign registrations (they regulate what they know).  I know farmers in Canada rountinely panic when the US pulls the registration on a pest control product, because it means Canadians still using the product loose their US markets.  What we usually end up doing is ditching the use of the product.

Having said all that, I know there is increasing movement to harmonize NAFTA and EU pesticide registration (and presumably drugs too), so that when the US has a product registered, the EU will accept the US acceptible residue determination. As you can imagine, this is quite a sticky issue, as often food safety issues can be muddled with issues of protectionism.  Somebody else on the list may be able to provide a perspective on where harmonization sits today.

Regards
Adony



Adony Melathopoulos
Apiculture Biotechnologist
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Beaverlodge Research Farm
Box CP 29
Beaverlodge, Alberta CANADA
T0H 0C0

T +1 780 354 5130
F +1 780 354 8171