Yesterday’s indictment is the largest in a string of federal actions in the past two years directed at stopping illegal trade in honey.  The 44-count indictment means the defendants are facing up to 20 years in prison, $250,000 fines on each count, and multi-million dollar reimbursements for the unpaid antidumping duties.

“This is the kind of pressure we need to correct the serious problem of illegally traded honey, which is threatening the continued viability of the U.S. honey sector,” said True Source Honey spokeswoman Jill Clark of Dutch Gold Honey, Lancaster, Penn.

The DOJ indicted 11 German and Chinese individuals and six corporations on federal charges for allegedly participating in an international conspiracy to illegally import Chinese honey. Federal law officials said the defendants allegedly imported more than $40 million of Chinese honey that was mislabeled to avoid nearly $80 million in antidumping duties, and included honey that was adulterated with antibiotics not approved for use in honey production.

In addition, an importer who was charged in May 2009 of illegally importing honey to the United States – including a shipment tainted with antibiotics – has pleaded guilty to related charges in U.S. District Court at Seattle.  Chung Po Liu submitted false paperwork claiming that the honey had been produced in Thailand or the Philippines and thereby avoided high import fees on Chinese honey. One of the shipments included honey tainted with an antibiotic banned in U.S. food.
In addition to applauding the actions of the DOJ and ICE, the True Source Honey Initiative recognizes Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) for their recent efforts calling for strengthened enforcement laws to combat Chinese “honey laundering” and to ensure the purity of honey sold in the United States.  Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA) and Sen. John Thune (R-SD) are also to be commended for their work in leading a group of 15 senators in an August 19 letter urging the Food and Drug Administration to finally move forward and establish a national standard of identity for honey within three months.  Beginning last summer, Florida, California and Wisconsin adopted state honey standards, while a federal standard of identity proposal has languished at FDA with no action for 4-1/2 years.  

“A lot of wonderful work is underway to ensure that the honey U.S. consumers enjoy is legally sourced and of high quality,” said Clark. “We need people to ask where the honey they enjoy is coming from—whether it’s from the jar or used in a cereal, salad dressing, beverage, power bar or other food product. And we need food manufacturers to examine how they’re sourcing honey.”

Quality U.S. honey operations are also essential for the honeybees needed to pollinate dozens of fruit, vegetable and seed crops across the United States, said Clark.  “One out of every three bites of food we take in this country relies on pollination from our honeybees.”

Illegally sourced honey hurts the beekeeping and honey industry and puts an added strain on honeybee producers, already struggling with colony collapse disorder. In addition, illegally imported honey includes food safety and quality implications as honey is often adulterated,  containing antibiotics, added syrups and sweetener extenders. With millions more pounds of circumvented honey entering the U.S. market in 2010, this illegal practice threatens a vital segment of U.S. agriculture.

The True Source Honey Initiative estimates that the illegal sale of honey in circumvention of U.S. trade laws costs the United States up to $200 million in uncollected duties in 2008 and 2009 combined.

“We thank the federal executive branch officials and Senators for their continued, important work for this critical sector of U.S. agriculture,” said Clark.