Democratic Senator Charles Schumer called on US enforcement authorities to crack down on Chinese "honey launderers" who he said undermined local honey producers, especially in his New York constituency.

New York's honey industry is one of the largest in the United States, ranking 12th in total production and serving as the Northeast's largest beekeeping state.

Almost a decade ago, the United States began imposing stiff duties on honey imported from China after accusing Chinese exporters of engaging in so-called predatory trade practices.

But in the subsequent years, Chinese companies began to get around the duties by shipping the honey through other countries -- such as Malaysia and Indonesia -- and thereby circumventing payment of US duties and food safety standards, Schumer said.

He said China had developed a complex scheme to circumvent the law.

It "mislabels honey as malt sweetener or blended syrup" to avoid paying the antidumping duty or export the product to the US through other countries.

"Shell" companies are also set up in the United States to import Chinese honey and then disappear when it comes time to pay the duties, he said.

The United States produces less than half the honey that it consumes, relying on imports to make up the difference from major honey producers such as Canada, Argentina and Brazil.

However, customs data also reveals that the US imports a significant percentage of honey -- perhaps as much as a third of total imports -- from countries with no significant commercial honey exporting business.

Four of the top eight countries -- India, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Indonesia -- export far more honey than their domestic bees produce, Schumer said.

"This is just one more example of China playing by its own rules to the detriment of every else," Schumer said.

"Instead of simply selling their product in a fair and competitive way, the Chinese are using illegal, backdoor deliveries and mislabeling their product to accomplish their goal."

Even though honey is produced in the United States and consumed both as a packaged food and as a food ingredient, Schumer said there currently was no federal standard of identity for honey in US law.

He has written to the US commissioner of food and drugs for the establishment of such a standard.

The Food and Drug Administration "is aware of this issue and the commissioner will read the letter with great interest but respond privately," a spokesman told AFP.

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News