1974L0409 — EN — 01.01.1986 — 001.001 — 1
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►B COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 22 July 1974
on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to honey
(74/409/EEC)
(OJ L 221, 12.8.1974, p. 10)
Amended by:
Official Journal
Nopage date
►A1Act of Accession of Greece L 291 17 19.11.1979
►A2Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal L 302 23 15.11.1985
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COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
of 22 July 1974
on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to
honey
(74/409/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Articles 43 and 100 thereof;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission;Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament;Whereas the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the
Member States define the term ‘honey', specify the different varietiesand lay down the requirements to be met by the product and theinformation which must appear on the packages or labels;
Whereas the differences existing between these laws hinder the free
movement of this product and may create unfair conditions ofcompetition;
Whereas, therefore, it is necessary at Community level to define the
term ‘honey',to make provision for the different varieties which may bemarketed under appropriate names to fix the general specific criteria forits composition, and to lay down the main information which is toappear on labels;
Whereas the choice of the methods of sampling and analysis necessary
for checking the composition and characteristics of honey is an imple-menting measure of a technical nature; whereas their adoption should beentrusted to the Commission in order to simplify and expedite theprocedure;
Whereas in all cases in which the Council confers on the Commission
authority to implement rules relating to foodstuffs, a procedure shouldbe laid down establishing close cooperation between the Member Statesand the Commission within the Standing Committee on Foodstuffs setup by Council Decision No 69/414/EEC (
1);
Whereas Article 3 of this Directive prohibits the use of the term ‘honey'
for products which do not comply with the definition laid down inArticle 1 (1); whereas, however, the immediate implementation of thisban could cause disturbance of the market where the use of the terms‘Kunsthonig'or ‘Kunsthonning'is permitted by previous national legis-lation to describe a product other than honey; whereas provision shouldconsequently be made for an appropriate transitional period to allow thenecessary changes tobe made;
Whereas pending the adoption of general Community rules regarding
the labelling of foodstuffs, a number of national provisions should bemaintained on a transitional basis;
Whereas there are at present on the market in certain Member States
honeys with various analytical characteristics; whereas it would appeardifficult toapply tothem all the criteria laid do wn in the Annex tothisDirective; whereas, however, a more detailed study would make itpossible to review the situation at a later date,
(1) OJ NoL 291, 19. 11. 1969, p. 9.
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HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
1. For the purposes of this Directive honey shall mean the foodstuff
which is produced by the honey-bee from the nectar of blossoms orsecretions of or on living parts of plants, and which the bees collect,transform, combine with specific substances of their own and store andleave to mature in honey combs. This foodstuff may be fluid, viscous orcrystallized.
2. The main types of honey are as follows:
(a)according to origin
blossom honey:honey obtained predominantly from the nectar of blossoms;honeydew honey:honey obtained predominantly from secretions of or on living parts
of plants; its colour varies from light or greenish brown to almostblack;
(b)according to mode of presentation
comb honey:honey stored by bees in the cells of freshly built broodless combs
and sold in sealed whole combs or sections of such combs;
chunk honey:honey which contains one or more pieces of comb honey;drained honey:honey obtained by draining decapped broodless combs;extracted honey:honey obtained by centrifuging decapped broodless combs;pressed honey:honey obtained by pressing broodless combs with or without the
application of moderate heat.
Article 2
Member States shall take all measures necessary toensure that ho ney
may be offered for sale only if it conforms to the definitions and ruleslaid down in this Directive and in the Annex thereto.
Article 3
1. The term honey shall be applied only to the product defined in
Article 1 (1) and must be used in trade todesignate that pro duct,without prejudice to the provisions laid down in Article 7 (1) (a) and(2).
2. The names referred toin Article 1 (2) shall be applied o nly tothe
products defined therein.
Article 4
By way of derogation from Article 3 (1) the terms Kunsthonning and
Kunsthonig may continue to be used in Denmark and in Germanyrespectively for a period of five years starting from the date of noti-fication of this Directive, to describe a product other than honey, inaccordance with the national provisions governing this product in forceat the time of the notification of this Directive.
Article 5
No product other than honey may be added to honey offered for sale as
such.
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Article 6
1. When it is marketed the honey shall comply with the composi-
tional criteria listed in the Annex.
However, by way of derogation from the second indent of paragraph 2
of the said Annex, Member States may authorize in their own territory:
(a) the marketing of heather honey with a maximum moisture content
of 25 %, if this is the result of natural conditions of production,
(b) the marketing of baker’s honey or industrial honey with a moisture
content of not more than 25 %, if this is the result of naturalconditions of production.
2. In addition:
(a) honey shall, as far as practicable, be free from organic or inorganic
matters foreign to its composition, such as mould, insects, insectdebris, brood or grains of sand, when the honey is marketed as suchor is used in any product for human consumption;
(b) honey shall not:
(i) have any foreign tastes or odours;
(ii) have begun toferment o r effervesce;
(iii) have been heated tosuch an extent that its natural enzymes are
destroyed or made inactive;
(iv) have an artificially changed acidity;
(c) honey may under no circumstances contain substances in such
quantity as toendanger human health.
3. By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2, honey may be
marketed as baker’s honey or industrial honey if, although suitable forhuman consumption:
(a) it does not comply with the requirements referred to in paragraph 2
(b), (i), (ii), (iii), or
(b) its diastase activity or hydroxymethylfurfural content do not comply
with the specifications laid down in the Annex.
However, in the case referred to under (b) a Member State may refrain
from making use of this term compulsory and allow the term honey tobe used. Within five years from the date of notification of this Directivethe Council shall decide, on a proposal from the Commission, onprovisions designed to lay down identical technical specifications forthe entire Community.
Article 7
1. The only information which is compulsory on the packages,
containers or labels of honey, which information must be conspicuous,clearly legible and indelible, shall be the following:
(a) the term honey or one of the names listed in Article 1 (2); comb
honey and chunk honey must, however, be described as such; in thecases referred to in subparagraph (b) of the second paragraph ofArticle 6 (1) and in the first paragraph of Article 6 (3), the name ofthe product shall be baker’s honey or industrial honey;
(b) the net weight expressed in grammes or kilogrammes;
(c) the name or trade name and the address or registered office of the
producer or packer, or of a seller established within the Community.
2. The Member States may require in their own territory use of the
name honeydew honey for honey which is predominantly honeydewhoney, which has the organoleptic, physico-chemical and microscopiccharacteristics of such honey and for which there is given no indicationof a specific plant origin, such as pine honey.
3. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the Member States may
retain any national provisions which require indication of the country oforigin. This information, however, may no longer be required for honeyoriginating in the Community.
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4. The term honey referred to in paragraph 1 (a) or one of the names
referred toin Article 1 (2) may be supplemented inter alia by:
(a) a reference to the origin, whether blossom or plant, provided the
product comes predominantly from the source indicated and has theappropriate organoleptic, physico-chemical, and microscopic char-acteristics;
(b) a regional, territorial or topographical name, provided the product
originates entirely in the area indicated.
5. Where honey is put up in packages or containers of a net weight
equal to or exceeding 10 kilogrammes and is not retailed, the informa-tion referred to in paragraph 1 (b) and (c) may, if desired, appear onlyon the accompanying documents.
6. Member States shall refrain from stating, apart from what is laid
down in paragraph 1, how the information referred to in that paragraphis to be given. However, Member States may forbid trade in honey intheir territory if the markings laid down in paragraph 1 (a) are notshown on one side of the package or container in the national languageor languages.
7. Until the end of the transitional period during which the imperial
units of measurement contained in Annex II to Council Directive No71/354/EEC (
1)of 18 October 1971 relating to units of measurement
which may be used in the Community, Member States may require thatthe weight should also be expressed in imperial units of measurement.
8. Paragraphs 1 to7 shall apply witho ut prejudice tosubsequent
provisions laid down by the Community on labelling.
Article 8
1. Member States shall adopt all the measures necessary to ensure
that trade in the products referred to in Article 1, which comply with thedefinitions and rules laid down in this Directive and in Annex I thereto,shall not be impeded by the application of national non-harmonizedprovisions governing the composition, manufacturing specifications,packaging or labelling of these products in particular or of foodstuffs ingeneral.
2. Paragraph 1 shall not be applicable to non-harmonized provisions
justified on grounds of:
— protection of public health,— repression of frauds unless such provisions are liable to impede the
application of the definitions and rules laid down by this Directive,
— protection of industrial and commercial property, of indications of
source, designations of origin and the repression of unfaircompetition.
Article 9
The methods of sampling and analysis necessary for checking the
composition and characteristics of honey shall be determined in accord-ance with the procedure laid down in Article 10.
Article 10
1. Where the procedure laid down in this Article is to be followed,
the matter shall be referred to the Standing Committee on Foodstuffs setup by the Council Decision of 13 November 1969 (hereinafter calledthe Committee) by its Chairman, either on his own initiative or at therequest of a representative of a Member State.
2. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the
Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shallgive its Opinion on that draft within a time limit set by the Chairmanhaving regard to the urgency of the matter. Opinions shall be delivered
(1) OJ NoL 243, 29. 10. 1971, p. 29.
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by a majority of ►A2fifty-four ◄votes, the votes of the Member
States being weighted as provided in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty. TheChairman shall not vote.
3. (a) Where the measures envisaged are in accordance with the
Opinion of the Committee, the Commission shall adopt them.
(b) Where the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the
Opinion of the Committee or if no Opinion is delivered, theCommission shall without delay submit to the Council a proposalon the measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualifiedmajority.
(c) If within three months of the proposal being submitted to it, the
Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adoptedby the Commission.
Article 11
The provisions of Article 10 shall apply for 18 months from the date on
which the matter was first referred tothe Co mmittee, under Article 10(1).
Article 12
This Directive shall not affect national provisions relating to the scales
of weights according to which honey must be marketed; the Council, ona proposal from the Commission, shall adopt the appropriateCommunity provisions before 1 January 1979.
Article 13
This Directive shall not apply to products intended for export from the
Community.
Article 14
Member States shall, if necessary, within a period of one year following
notification of this Directive, amend their laws in accordance with theprovisions of this Directive and shall forthwith inform the Commissionthereof. The laws thus amended shall apply to the products offered forsale in the Member States two years after the notification of thisDirective.
Article 15
This Directive is addressed tothe Member States.
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ANNEX
COMPOSITIONAL CRITERIA FOR HONEY
1.Apparent reducing sugar content, calculated as invert sugar
— Blossom honey
— Honeydew honey and blends of honeydew honey and blossom
honeynot less than 65 %
not less than 60 %
2.Moisture content
— In general
— Heather honey (Calluna) and clover honey (Trifolium sp.)not more than 21 %
not more than 23 %
3.Apparent sucrose content
— In general
— Honeydew honey, and blends of honeydew honey and blossom
honey, acacia, lavender and banksia menziesii honeysnot more than 5 %
not more than 10 %
4.Water-insoluble solids content
— In general
— Pressed honeynot more than 0 ·1%
not more than 0 ·5%
5.Mineral content (ash)
— In general
— Honeydew honey, and blends of honeydew honey and blossom
honeynot more than 0 ·6%
not more than 1 %
6.Acidity not more than 40 milli-
equivalents acid per 1 000grammes
7.Diastase activity and hydroxymethylfurfural content (HMF) determined after processing
and blending
(a)Diastase activity (Schade scale)
— In general
— Honeys with low natural enzyme content (e.g; citrus) and a
HMF content not more than 15 mg/kgnot less than 8
not less than 3
b)HMF not more than 40 mg/kg
(subject to the provisions ofparagraph (a) second indent)