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Thread ID: 67615	2006-04-01 10:16:00	oppose honey imports !	tweak'e (69)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
442807	2006-04-01 10:16:00	for those who havn't heard, the goverment is looking to allow imports of honey. the problem with this (and the reason honey is not imported) is the risk of bringing in diseases. small bit on it here (www.radionz.co.nz) assuie appears to be shomping at he bit to sent honey over here (payback for us exporting apples to aussie?) and the goveremnt seems to be leaning over backwoulds to do it even tho the top bee Scientists in NZ think its a really BAD idea. however the Scientists employers (maf) are saying that its an acceptable risk....mmmm....a bit of back room politics?? downsides of importing honey.... drop in wholesale honey price meaning pollination price will go up making life tuff for growers of the food you eat (1/3 of food is bee related). diseases (eg EFB) will cause 30% loss of beehives meaning HUGE increase in cost AND advailability of beehives. (we are 1000's short this year as it is). kiss good by to a lot of orchards and a lot of NZ grown fruit etc and exports of that produce. also it will impact on us exporting honey to other contries and if we treat hives/honey (antibiotics/iradation/heat teating) it will mean the end to "natural honey" we enjoy today. imports are open to abuse such as watering down with other countries honey which could well be infected. upside.... cheap honey at supermarket.....strangly enough, not likly. other countries that have had imports have not had cheaper retail prices, only cheaper wholesale prices. guess who making the $$$ there is a dematration in welly on tues. hopfully it might wake the Agriculture Minister up to smell the crap MAF are feeding him!	tweak'e (69)
442808	2006-04-01 10:43:00	Does Aust. have Varroa or any other nasty bits? If not then I'm all for importation. Edit: I should note I don't actually eat honey. Edit2: Though for getting the crispy dark skin on roast chicken, watered down honey is the way to go! :thumbs:	bob_doe_nz (92)
442809	2006-04-01 11:41:00	they have EFB which makes the varroa problem look like a cold :( its seriously nasty. western aust is ment to be EFB (europeen foul brew) free however bees don't obey state borders. they are also saying heat treating will kill any EFB in the honey, however thats hasn't been proven, afaik they havn't fully tested it. also they have AFB, which we have and are trying to get rid of. it will be difficult it get rid of if we keep getting infected. don't forget its not just honey that effected, all products that are pollinated are to. all those industrys may die (can't afford the pollination cost) which mean we will be importing crap food from overseas :( at the moment diesese control is easy......don't let anything in. once you start allowing some things in it gets extreamly hard to police. bio sicurity will have a very tough and exspencive job dealing with it. all this just so a few aust food companies can make a few extra $ selling crap honey to NZ	tweak'e (69)
442810	2006-04-01 13:33:00	Typical $%#&^$ Australians. Would they let us import honey to them if we had EFB? Would they heck as like. Why not let that Aussi ?wheat board [ the one that got big freehanders from ? Iraq - something like that anyway] -take the honey and do a similar deal? God, that lot are so brazen. Probably gone that way from hanging around Bush and the rest of his cronies. I hope the bee pollen capsules that the health shops are selling don't come from Australia.	MMM (5660)
442811	2006-04-01 15:05:00	I know the Central Otago orchardists are as concerned as the beekeepers about anything which might reduce bee numbers, as they rely on them completely to pollinate their trees. And BTW, tweak'e - that import permission for our apples has still not been granted by Australia, in spite of their excuses being rubbished by whatever international agriculture group that's just looked at it. An apple industry man said they were looking at "the next step" on National Radio this week. P.S. Our honey is already cheap by world standards, anyway. We don't really need imports to make it cheaper when they carry such risks.	Laura (43)
442812	2006-04-01 21:22:00	Anyway, have any of you eaten any Oz hunny? I have tried quite a lot of varieties, and its frankly crap compared with NZ hunny of almost any variety, so I don't know on what basis they think they can compete with our own home grown. I have eaten hunny in quite a number of countries now, and NZ smokes them all - especially uncreamed manuka. Frankly, I would be too embarrassed to import that unpleasant stuff from across the ditch. Bad business proposition, so I wonder too whether it is related to blackmail about the apple issue.	John H (8)
442813	2006-04-01 21:25:00	My vote, keep it out. Bio security is a real issue in this country. We have a seriously fortunate position of being small and isolated enough that we can avoid many of the problems that are bothering other countries, and have an export advantage as a result. The only way imported honey could ever be safe is if its nuked, boiled and generally robbed of all nutritional value to the point where it is little more than colored flavored sugar water, so what's the point?	personthingy (1670)
442814	2006-04-02 00:00:00	What's the point? I worked OK for coca-cola. :D	mark c (247)
442815	2006-04-02 00:41:00	I know the Central Otago orchardists are as concerned as the beekeepers about anything which might reduce bee numbers, as they rely on them completely to pollinate their trees. thats exactly the thing. in north island the price went up and demand went up due to varroa (no wild bees left to pollinate the flowers/trees). hopefully they can keep it out of south island for as long as possible but its only a matter of time before its gets into south island. those guys would have to budget on a 500% price increase, ouch! my guess is if assie honey came in it most likly would get used commericaly in baking etc, you proberly wouldn't see it on the shelf. however it would meen a lot more cheaper varities of NZ honey being dumped on the market which would crash the price. if that happens its not going to be worth taking honey off the hives. if diesese hits then it proberly not worth being a bee keeper, exspecially in this aera.	tweak'e (69)
442816	2006-04-02 01:11:00	Honey is expensive in the South too . I have an idea that that varroa came in in imported honey . Australians won't take our apples . We import theirs . They seem to have got their ideas of free trade from the US: We take all of theirs, they take nothing of ours . It's like "US democracy" You must have free elections, but don't elect anyone we don't like .	Graham L (2)
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