Apiculture sector policies - positive and negative elements to support healthy market conditions.

Background: The apiculture sector is facing severe challenges, and the honey market health is generally low. Whereas some countries have a positive honey trade balance, the self-sufficiency with honey in the EU is a low as 63% and there are suspicion of fraud with cheap honey imports, deteriorating the business economy like a vicious circle. Given that policies typically aim to regulate markets either directly or indirectly, it was found pertinent to identify examples of policies that are perceived as either being beneficial or deteriorating for a thriving apiculture sector, for the purpose of establishing a basis for sharing these examples via policy recommendations. Method: An international, web-based survey using open-ended questions was designed to gather opinions on policies perceived as positively or negatively influencing the health of the honey market. The questionnaire allowed respondents to list up to three examples each of positive and negative policies. Members of the COST Action 22105 BeSafeBeeHoney project, were encouraged to assist in gathering responses. Results: Seventeen responses containing 74 policy examples were collected from 13 countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Kosovo, Italy, Serbia, Spain, Slovakia, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom. The provided policy examples were compiled and organised in a spreadsheet for further grouping and sorting using various criteria. The 13 countries were categorised into three groups based on positive, slightly negative, or negative honey trade balances. Conclusions: Qualitative analyses for patterns in responses reflected a general perception of three decisive policy areas, namely i) subsidisation, ii) product classification and labelling, and iii) regulations governing pesticides and veterinary medicine. Both positive and deteriorating policy examples were given for these issues. However, our research highlights fundamental challenges within the sector resulting from irregular market mechanisms, with indications that the predominant market actors operate largely beyond public oversight, contributing to concerns about effective regulation and control.