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Trade Facilitation Unit - Bee and Bee Products

The Bahamas currently has conditions to allow the importation of bee and bee products from various countries. Having conducted an import risk analysis (IRA) that considers quarantine risks that may be associated with the importation to The Bahamas of bee and bee products from any country, the IRA recommends that the importation of bee and bee products to The Bahamas could be permitted subject to compliance with Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures to manage the quarantine risks of a range of significant diseases to a very low level, in line with WOAH guidelines. The IRA assessed all potential disease agents that may be introduced to The Bahamas via the importation of bee and bee products and SPS measures. These diseases include Varroosis, Acarapisosis (also known as acarine disease or tracheal mite infestation), Paenibacillus larvae (American foulbrood), Melissococcus plutonius (European foulbrood), Aethina tumida (Small hive beetle), and Tropilaelaps spp..

Based on this risk assessment The Bahamas Agricultural Health and Food Safety Authority (BAHFSA) has developed conditions of import for bee and bee product consignments. They are outlined below. All consignments of bee and bee products must:

  1. Meet the labelling requirements prescribed in Section 23 of the Bahamas Agricultural Health and Food Safety Authority (BAHFSA), Food Safety and Quality Act (2016) in Appendix 1
  2. Meet the import conditions for bee and bee products in Appendix 2

APPENDIX 1

Labelling and advertising

  1. No person shall offer for sale in The Bahamas any package of food unless the label thereon—

    1. is written in English;

    2. specifies the product name;

    3. specifies the date of manufacture and expiration;

    4. permits the traceability of the food as prescribed in regulations; and

    5. sets out such particulars as may be prescribed in regulations.

  2. Where food that is not packaged is displayed for sale, it shall bear an identification mark.

  3. The Director shall prescribe requirements for food advertising in accordance with applicable legislation.

  4. Any foods not in compliance with the requirements under this section shall be confiscated by the Director.

  5. Any person selling food in contravention of this section commits an offence and shall be liable to a fixed penalty as prescribed by regulations.

APPENDIX 2

Conditions for importation of be * and bee products

  1. If a country, zone, or compartment wishes to export:
    1. live queen, worker and drone honeybees with or without associated brood combs, an
      international veterinary certificate is required and must attest that:
      1. the honeybees come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from acarapisosis or the apiaries meet the conditions prescribed in Chapter 4.15. (Article 4.15.5.) of the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code. With regards to the provisions detailed in point 2 of Article 4.15.5. of the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code, this will be achieved by a statistically valid number of honey bees per colony being examined by any method complying with the relevant chapter of the Terrestrial Manual and found free of all life stages of A. woodi.
      2. the honey bees come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from American foulbrood; or the shipment comprises only honey bees without associated brood combs and: the honey bees come from apiaries meeting the conditions prescribed in Article 4.15.5. of the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code; and the apiaries where the honey bees come from are situated in the centre of an area with a radius of 3 kilometres where there has been no outbreak of American foulbrood during the past 30 days.
      3. the honeybees come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from European foulbrood; or
      4. the shipment comprises only honeybees without associated brood combs and:
      5. the honeybees come from apiaries meeting the conditions prescribed inArticle 4.15.5. of the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code; and
      6. the apiaries where the honeybees come from are situated in the centre of an area with a radius of 3 kilometres where there has been no outbreak of European foulbrood during the past 30 days.
      7. the bees come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from A. tumida.
    2. eggs, larvae and pupae of honeybees, an international veterinary certificate is required and must attest that:
      1. come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from American foulbrood; or
      2. have been isolated from queens in a quarantine station, and all workers which accompanied the queen or a representative sample of larvae were examined for the presence of P. larvae by bacterial culture or PCR in accordance with the Terrestrial Manual.
      3. come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from European foulbrood; or
      4. have been isolated from queens in a quarantine station, and all workers which accompanied the queen or a representative sample of eggs or larvae were examined for the presence of M. plutonius by bacterial culture or PCR in accordance with the Terrestrial Manual.
      5. the commodities come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from A. tumida; OR
      6. the commodities have been bred and kept under a controlled environment within a recognised establishment which is supervised and controlled by the Veterinary Authority or other Competent Authority; and
      7. the establishment was inspected immediately prior to dispatch and all eggs, larvae and pupae show no evidence of the presence of A. tumida; and
      8. the packaging material, containers, accompanying products and food are new and all precautions have been taken to prevent infestation or contamination with A. tumida.
    3. live queen honeybees, worker honeybees, drone honeybees, larvae of honey bees, pupae of honey bees, and brood combs, an international veterinary certificate is required and must attest that:
      1. the commodities come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from Tropilaelaps spp.;OR
      2. the shipment comprises only queen honeybees with attendant worker honey bees without associated brood combs and the honey bees:
        1. come from an artificial broodless swarm with the caged queen;
        2. caged queen and swarm have been treated with an effective veterinary medicinal product and kept isolated for 21 days from brood prior to the shipment;
      3. the honeybee queens were inspected by a representative of the Veterinary Services prior to the shipment and showed no evidence of the presence of the mites.
      4. the commodities come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from Varroa spp.; or
      5. the shipment comprises only queen honey bees with attendant worker honey bees without associated brood combs and:
        1. the honey bees come from an artificial broodless swarm with the caged queen;
        2. the caged queen and swarm have been treated with an effective veterinary medicinal product;
        3. the honey bees were inspected by a representative of the Veterinary Services prior to the shipment and showed no evidence of the presence of the mites;
        4. the queen honey bees were inspected by the Veterinary Services of the importing country based on a visual inspection described in the relevant chapter of the Terrestrial Manual and the attendant worker honey bees were killed.
    4. honey, honeybee-collected pollen, beeswax, propolis and royal jelly for use in apiculture, an international veterinary certificate is required and must attest that the commodities:
      1. come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from American foulbrood; or
      2. have been processed to ensure the destruction of both bacillary and spore forms of P. larvae by irradiation with ten kilogray or any procedure of equivalent efficacy recognised by the Veterinary Authorities of the importing and exporting countries; or
      3. have been found free from spore forms of P. larvae by a test method described in the relevant chapter of the Terrestrial Manual.
      4. come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from European foulbrood; or
      5. have been processed to ensure the destruction of M. plutonius by irradiation with 15 kilogray or any procedure of equivalent efficacy recognised by the Veterinary Authorities of the importing and exporting countries; or
      6. have been found free of M. plutonius by a test method described in the relevant chapter of the Terrestrial Manual.
    5. honey, consumption, an international veterinary certificate is required and must attest that the products: honey bee-collected pollen, beeswax, propolis and royal jelly for use in human
      1. come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from American foulbrood; or
      2. have been processed to ensure the destruction of both bacillary and spore forms of P. larvae by irradiation with ten kilogray or any procedure of equivalent efficacy recognised by the Veterinary Authorities of the importing and exporting countries; or
      3. have been found free from spore forms of P. larvae by a test method described in the relevant chapter of the Terrestrial Manual.
      4. come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from European foulbrood; or
      5. have been processed to ensure the destruction of M. plutonius by irradiation with 15 kilogray or any procedure of equivalent efficacy recognised by the Veterinary Authorities of the importing and exporting countries; or
      6. have been found free of M. plutonius by a test method described in the relevant chapter of the Terrestrial Manual.
    6. individual consignments containing a single live queen bee, accompanied by a small number of associated attendants (a maximum of 20 attendants per queen), an international veterinary certificate is required and must attest that:
      1. the bees come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from A. tumida; OR
      2. the bees come from hives or colonies which were inspected immediately prior to packing, with no evidence of A. tumida based on a visual inspection and one of the methods described in the relevant chapter of the Terrestrial Manual; and
      3. the bees come from an area of at least 50 km radius where no apiary has been subject to any restrictions associated with the occurrence of A. tumida for the previous six months; and
      4. the bees and accompanying packaging presented for export have been thoroughly and individually inspected and do not contain A. tumida; and
      5. the packaging material, containers, accompanying products and food are new; and
      6. all precautions have been taken to prevent infestation or contamination with A. tumida, in particular, measures that prevent infestation of queen cages such as no long-term storage of queens prior to shipment and covering the cages or the whole consignment of bees immediately after the packing with fine mesh through which a live beetle cannot enter.
    7. honey, an international veterinary certificate is required and must attest that the honey:
      1. comes from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from Varroa spp.; or
      2. has been strained through a filter of pore size no greater than 0.42 mm; or
      3. has been treated to ensure the destruction of Varroa spp. in accordance with one of the following procedures:
        1. heating to 50°C core temperature and holding at that temperature for 20 minutes; or
        2. freezing at core temperature of minus 12°C or less for at least 24 hours; or
        3. irradiation with 350 Gray; or
        4. by any procedure of equivalent efficacy recognised by the Veterinary Authorities of the importing and exporting countries.
    8. honey, an international veterinary certificate is required and must attest that the honey:
      1. comes from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from Tropilaelaps spp.; or
      2. has been strained through a filter of pore size no greater than 0.42 mm; or
      3. has been treated to ensure the destruction of Tropilaelaps spp. in accordance with one of the following procedures:
        1. heating to 50°C core temperature and holding at that temperature for 20 minutes; or
        2. freezing at core temperature of minus 12°C or less for at least 24 hours; or
        3. irradiation with 350 Gray; or
        4. by any procedure of equivalent efficacy recognised by the Veterinary Authorities of the importing and exporting countries.
    9. honey, an international veterinary certificate is required and must attest that:
      1. the honey: EITHER
        1. comes from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from A. tumida; OR
        2. has been strained through a filter of pore size no greater than 0.42mm; OR
        3. has been treated to ensure the destruction of A. tumida in accordance with one of the following procedures:
          1. heating to 50°C core temperature and holding at that temperature for 24 hours; or
          2. freezing at core temperature of minus 12°C or less for at least 24 hours; or
          3. irradiation with 400 Gray; or
          4. by any procedure of equivalent efficacy recognised by the Veterinary Authorities of the importing and exporting countries;
        4. comes from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from Tropilaelaps spp.; or
        5. has been strained through a filter of pore size no greater than 0.42 mm; or
        6. has been treated to ensure the destruction of Tropilaelaps spp. in accordance with one of the following procedures:
          1. heating to 50°C core temperature and holding at that temperature for 20 minutes; or
          2. freezing at core temperature of minus 12°C or less for at least 24 hours; or
          3. irradiation with 350 Gray; or
          4. by any procedure of equivalent efficacy recognised by the Veterinary Authorities of the importing and exporting countries. AND
      2. all precautions have been taken to prevent contamination with A.tumida.
    10. bee-collected pollen, an international veterinary certificate is required and must attest that the bee-collected pollen:
      1. comes from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from Tropilaelaps spp.; or
      2. has been treated to ensure the destruction of Tropilaelaps spp. in accordance with one of the following procedures:
        1. freezing at core temperature of minus 12°C or less for at least 24 hours; or
        2. irradiation with 350 Gray; or
        3. desiccation by freeze drying or equivalent; or
        4. by any procedure of equivalent efficacy recognised by the Veterinary Authorities of the importing and exporting countries.
    11. honey bee-collected pollen, an international veterinary certificate is required and must attest that:
      1. the bee-collected pollen: EITHER
        1. comes from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from A.tumida; OR
        2. contains no live bees or bee brood; and
        3. has been treated to ensure the destruction of A. tumida in accordance with one of the following procedures:
          1. freezing at core temperature of minus 12°C or less for at least 24 hours; or
          2. irradiation with 400 Gray; or
          3. desiccation by freeze drying or equivalent; or
          4. by any procedure of equivalent efficacy recognised by the Veterinary Authorities of the importing and exporting countries; AND
      2. all precautions have been taken to prevent contamination with A. tumida.
    12. beeswax and propolis, an international veterinary certificate is required and must attest that the commodities:
      1. come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from Tropilaelaps spp.; or
      2. are processed beeswax or processed propolis; or
      3. have been treated to ensure the destruction of Tropilaelaps spp. in accordance with one of the following procedures:
        1. freezing at core temperature of minus 12°C or less for at least 24 hours; or
        2. fumigation with methyl bromide at a rate of 48 g per cubic metre at atmospheric pressure and at a temperature of 10-15°C for a period of 2 hours; or
        3. irradiation with 350 Gray; or
        4. desiccation by freeze drying or equivalent; or
        5. by any procedure of equivalent efficacy recognised by the Veterinary Authorities of the importing and exporting countries.

    13. beeswax and propolis for use in human consumption, an international veterinary certificate is required and must attest that the commodities:
      1. the commodities: EITHER
        1. come from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from A. tumida; OR
        2. contain no live bees or bee brood; and
        3. are processed propolis or processed beeswax; OR
        4. contain no live bees or bee brood; and
        5. have been treated to ensure the destruction of A. tumida in accordance with one of the following procedures:
          1. freezing at core temperature of minus 12°C or less for at least 24 hours; or
          2. irradiation with 400 Gray; or
          3. by any procedure of equivalent efficacy recognised by the Veterinary Authorities of the importing and exporting countries; AND
      2. all precautions have been taken to prevent contamination with A. tumida.
    14. royal jelly for use in human consumption, an international veterinary certificate is required and must attest that:
      1. the royal jelly: EITHER
        1. comes from apiaries situated in a country or zone free from A. tumida; OR
        2. is encapsulated for human consumption; OR
        3. has been treated to ensure the destruction of A. tumida in accordance with one of the following procedures:
          1. heating to 50°C core temperature and holding at that temperature for 24 hours; or
          2. freezing at core temperature of minus 12°C or less for at least 24 hours; or
          3. desiccation by freeze drying or equivalent; or
          4. irradiation with 400 Gray; or
          5. by any procedure of equivalent efficacy recognised by the Veterinary Authorities of the importing and exporting countries; AND
      2. ii. all precautions have been taken to prevent contamination with A.tumida.