Influence Industry: US Honey Industry Asks FDA for National Purity Standard

Competition with Chinese imports unnerves the maker of any product. The US honey industry, already suffering from a declining bee population, seeks government help in preventing honey laundering or counterfeiting. The US honey industry accuses some Chinese makers of diluting products or transporting goods to third countries to avoid anti-dumping duties, reports Dan Eggen for the Washington Post. China is now the third largest source of US agricultural and seafood imports, notes a Congressional Research Service report. “Although all imported food products must meet the same safety standards as domestically produced foods, international trade rules permit a foreign country to apply its own, differing, regulatory authorities and institutional systems in meeting such standards,” the 2008 report says. With millions of food products arriving daily to the US, amid demands for lower prices and fewer taxes and regulations, government agencies insist that purity tests are unlikely. – YaleGlobal