Exports of Honey to the European Union

All shipments of honey destined to a Member State of the European Union must be accompanied by a Health Certificate for Imports of Honey and Other Apicultural Products Intended for Human Consumption (Health Certificate) signed and stamped by a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspector. Only honey that is produced or processed in a CFIA registered honey establishment is eligible for export from Canada.

• Member states of the EU

Despite the implementation of Health Canada's and CFIA's policy on Working Residue Levels (WRL) for Honey, exporters must be aware that veterinary drug residues within these levels do not meet the requirements of EU legislation. Detectable levels of veterinary drug residues could result in the removal of honey from the European marketplace.

Exporters requiring a Health Certificate must send the following documents to their local CFIA Inspection office at least 7 working days prior to container loading:

1. Request to Export Honey to the European Union

   Make sure to provide the name and address of the person who will receive the completed signed certificate. An original signed certificate will be sent by courier (at your expense) to yourself or an agent that you designate.

2. Exporter's Declaration for the Export of Honey to the European Union

   This is the exporter's guarantee that the honey is produced according to the Honey Regulations and meets the EU requirements with respect to veterinary drug residues.

3. Health Certificate for Imports of Honey and Other Apiculture Products Intended for Human Consumption

   Please complete the indicated boxes of Part I: Details of Dispatched Consignment according to the attached instructions.

   CFIA will generate only one original signed certificate.

   If required, the shipment must be available for verification by a CFIA inspector.

   Export verifications for monitoring purposes will be conducted by CFIA inspectors, at no cost to the exporter, to ensure that the documentation submitted correctly identifies the intended shipment. If the information on the Exporter's Declaration and the Health Certificate does not match the documentation of the intended shipment, the shipment is considered Non-Satisfactory.

   The exporter's subsequent export requests will trigger an export follow-up inspection and the applicable inspection fee will apply until three (3) consecutive export shipments by the same exporter are satisfactory.

   Exporters must note that:

   • The Honey Regulations require the CFIA establishment registration number to appear on all containers of the shipment.
   • The CFIA will not issue export documents if the shipment is not available for verification or has already left Canada at the time the request for export documents is made.
   • The documents mentioned above are available electronically from your regional CFIA office. Completed documents may be submitted to the CFIA inspection office by e-mail.

Originally issued March 30, 2009 (Notice to Industry)