The United States leads the world in honey imports

The United States led the world in natural honey imports in 2020, with foreign purchases of $ 441 million.

Then Germany was placed, with imports of 273 million dollars, according to data from the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Today, the United States is one of the main honey producers in the world, it is among the top three.

However, it does not have enough production to supply its demand, which is why it is, in turn, the world’s leading importer of this product.

According to Icex, of the nearly 273,000 tons a year that Americans consume, the United States only produces about 91,000 tons of honey.

Honey imports

Icex highlights in an analysis that it should be taken into account that in the United States the importation of honey from China is totally prohibited.

This prohibition affects both honey that comes directly from this country and that which comes from other countries but incorporates a percentage, even if it is minimal, from the Asian country.

This limitation derives from the fact that honey produced in China may contain traces of chloramphenicol, an antibiotic that is totally prohibited in the United States.

For the US market, this data is relevant because China is the world’s largest honey exporter, with 235 million dollars in 2019.

Among the countries that most participated in honey imports to the United States are: Argentina (97 million dollars), Brazil (73 million), Vietnam (67 million), India (62 million) and New Zealand (45 million).

Regulation

The production, importation and marketing of honey in the United States is subject to strict sanitary and commercial requirements, as well as labeling.

Various Departments and Agencies, both federal and state, intervene in its regulation and in the control of compliance with the corresponding regulations.

The federal agencies involved in regulating honey in the United States are the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Likewise, and with regard to imports, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also has a relevant role, since they must verify that imported products, in this case honey, meet all quality requirements. sanitary and commercial to be able to be distributed in this country, being also responsible for complying with the payment of the corresponding import duties and taxes.

Other countries with the highest participation in honey imports to the United States were in 2020: Ukraine (20 million dollars), Canada (15 million), Mexico (10 million), Uruguay (8 million) and Spain (6 million) .