Representatives of beekeepers from Hunedoara County are against the Mercosur agricultural agreement that eliminates taxes between the European Union and the main South American states, considering that its application will lead to the bankruptcy of this branch of Romanian agriculture.
The president of the Hunedoara Beekeepers Association (ACA), Tiberiu Korb, declared on Tuesday for AGERPRES that the situation of beekeepers is also made more difficult by the fact that, in recent years, a "massive" quantity of honey from Ukraine and China has entered Romania, honey of poor quality but cheaper than that made in Romania.
"We have had a sad experience so far, considering that honey was massively brought to the country from Ukraine and China, at very low prices, reaching even one euro. You realize what quality we are talking about. After this negative experience with Ukraine and China, it is normal to have problems with agricultural products, with honey - in our case, brought from South America, especially from Argentina and Brazil. There are countries that produce a lot of honey and have favorable weather conditions. They will finish us, the beekeepers, with the large quantities and low prices for honey", explained the representative of ACA Hunedoara.
He emphasized that the honey from South American countries would not be of high quality, due to the phytosanitary treatments applied to the plants, without strict control as happens in the European Union states.
"We are totally against this agreement", said the president of ACA Hunedoara.
On the other hand, he mentioned that there may be other solutions, such as allowing the entry into the country only of products that do not exist in sufficient quantities on the domestic market.
"If there is a product that is not found, at a certain date, in Romania or in a European country, then we can bring something like that. But that does not mean that we have to bring any product that is cheaper there and thus end our agriculture", Tiberiu Korb said.
He expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that farmers' organizations were not consulted before a decision was made and said that by applying the Mercosur agreement, Romanian beekeepers will have problems in the coming years.
At the same time, the president of ACA Hunedoara also pointed out that, in recent years, beekeepers in Romania have gone through delicate moments, because honey production has decreased significantly due to climatic conditions that affected flowers and beekeeping.
"A telling example is last year, 2025. I have been working in the beekeeping field for 40 years, but 2025 is the weakest in all this time. Not a single spoonful of honey was produced at the county level, by those who did not go with their hives to pastoral care. Some honey was obtained from sunflower and rapeseed, but only by those who went to pastoral care", concluded the representative of beekeepers from Hunedoara county.
Comentează