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Honeybee Importation Prohibition Regulations

OTTAWA, May 21, 2004 - The Honeybee Importation Prohibition Regulations, 2004 have been enacted to permit an exemption for the import into Canada of honeybee queens and their attendants from the continental U.S. The prohibition for importing any other honeybees from the continental U.S. will remain in effect.

The new regulations came into force on May 19, 2004 and will be published in Canada Gazette, Part II, on June 2, 2004. A copy of the amendments can be obtained, on or after June 2, from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Web site at www.inspection.gc.ca or the Canada Gazette Web site at http://canadagazette.gc.ca/index-e.html.

The Honeybee Importation Prohibition Regulations, 2004 are in response to the requests of Canadian beekeepers, the changing animal health status of Canadian honeybees and a risk assessment undertaken by the CFIA which determined that the importation of honeybee queens posed a lower risk than packaged bees of introducing new bee diseases into Canada. Representatives of the beekeeping industry and provincial governments were consulted as part of the review.

Canadian beekeepers have faced increasing difficulties in obtaining the necessary number of honeybee queens for the honey production and pollination seasons due to winter losses and limited availability from Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia. Importing honeybee queens from the continental U.S. will help Canadian beekeepers replenish their stock with a minimum risk of introducing new bee diseases.

The safe importation of honeybee queens enables the government to support the sustainability and expansion of Canada’s beekeeping industry while minimizing the introduction and spread of new honeybee diseases and pests. Importation will only be permitted in a manner that will minimize the risk of entry of new bee diseases or pests and Africanized honeybees.

The proposed regulations were published in Part I of the Canada Gazette on April 10, 2004, for a 30-day comment period.

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For more information, please contact:

CFIA Media Relations
(613) 228-6682