Navigating Honey
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How do I sell or export my Honey?
Whether you are a beekeeper, a Primary or Secondary Honey Business or a Bee Product business, there are legal requirements to meet in order to harvest, manufacture, process, and sell your honey product.
Depending on whether you will sell your product domestically or export to overseas markets determines which regulations and requirements you will need to meet. The two main regulations are the Food Act 2014 and the Animal Products Act (APA) 1999.
If you process, store, sell or export honey or other bee products you must:
- Have a registered plan/programme – these need to be registered and verified either by your local council or the Ministry for Primary Industries (depending on what activities you are doing).
- Manage Tutin Contamination – Tutin contamination makes honey toxic to humans, so testing your honey through recognised laboratories is a smart choice. To be able to sell your honey you need to prove that Tutin is below a certain, set level.
Food Act (2014) Requirements – when labelling honey and bee products, you need to follow the general labelling guidelines of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) code and its rules for Honey and Bee products. This code covers the safe handling, storage, processing and packaging of all food products sold in the country.
Exporting Your Honey
If you process or store bee products destined for export, you must operate under a registered Risk Management Programme. You’ll also likely need an official assurance (export certificate) to export. This applies if you are:
- An Operator who stores bee products intended for export or;
- A Secondary Processor who extracts, processes, packs, or stores bee products
Under the APA (1999) the following businesses intending to export are included in these regulatory requirements:
- Extract Honey
- Store or Pack Honey or Honeycomb
- Process or pack Royal Jelly, Pollen, or Propolis
In order to achieve compliance with the regulations, you must have a registered Risk Management Programme (RMP), which can be based on a recognised template that uses a code of practice. Produco can assist you to navigate the regulations and legislation to achieve a compliant Risk Management Plan (RMP) and any registration. We also:
- Create and implement fit-for-purpose Quality Management Systems giving confidence that products and processes are of a high standard
- Assist with meeting export certification and market access requirements, including AP E-Cert access and training
- Provide Quality Assurance training modules tailored to employees, from beginner level to advanced
- Conduct design reviews to ensure your site and facility are designed to best fit quality standards and production efficiency
- Facilitate and guide on suitable ERP systems to give confidence of ingredients, raw materials, and final product quality assurance and traceability
- Conduct audits to a high standard, ensuring that your business will always be ‘audit-ready’
- Provide mentorship to leaders to drive ‘quality culture within your business
- Set up:
- Pathogen Management Plans
- Product Specifications
- Sampling and Testing regimes
