Honey origin labelling rules

Why origin matters

The European Union does not produce enough honey for its own needs and imports a large share. In the European Commission’s coordinated action ‘From the Hives’ in 2021–2022, 147 of 320 samples of imported honey – 46% – were suspected of adulteration. Meanwhile, the generic wording ‘blend of EU and non-EU honeys’ told shoppers nothing about where the honey in the jar actually came from. That is why the EU tightened the rules.

What applies across the EU

The basis is Council Directive 2001/110/EC on honey. From the start it required the label to name the country where the honey was harvested, but for blends from several countries it allowed only collective terms: ‘from EC countries’, ‘non-EC’ or ‘EC and non-EC’. The so-called Breakfast Directive, (EU) 2024/1438, abolished these terms and requires every country of origin of a blend to be listed.

Honey from a single country still names just that country. For a blend, every country must appear in the principal field of vision – usually the front of the jar – in descending order of weight, each with its percentage. A tolerance of 5% is allowed for each share, and the figures must match the packer’s traceability records. The directive has been in force since 13 June 2024; member states had to transpose it by 14 December 2025, and the new rules have applied since 14 June 2026. Honey labelled or placed on the market earlier may be sold until stocks run out.

The directive left member states two options. For blends from more than four countries they may allow percentages only for the four largest shares, provided these make up more than half; the other countries are then listed without percentages. For packs under 30 grams they may allow two-letter ISO codes such as CZ or SK instead of country names.

How Czechia implemented it

In Czechia the rules are set by Decree No. 490/2025 on natural sweeteners, confectionery, cocoa and honey. It is a new regulation, published on 27 November 2025, which replaced the previous Decree No. 76/2003 on 14 June 2026. Czechia did not adopt the four-largest-shares option: the label of a blend must list every country, each with a percentage. It did, however, allow ISO codes on portions under 30 grams.

A blend label might therefore read: ‘Country of origin: Ukraine 60%, Czech Republic 30%, Slovakia 10%’. The decree also recognises ‘forest honey’ (med lesní) as an equivalent name for honeydew honey. Such honey must reach an electrical conductivity of at least 0.8 mS/cm; the Czech Bee Research Institute warns that ‘forest’ honey below this threshold would be treated by inspectors as misleading.

Honey straight from the beekeeper

Under veterinary Decree No. 289/2007, a Czech beekeeper may sell up to 2 tonnes of honey a year from their own colonies directly to consumers – at home, at a market or to a local shop – without registering the premises. This exemption concerns hygiene and registration, not honest labelling. According to the Czech Beekeepers’ Association and the Bee Research Institute, the rules for prepacked food apply to such honey too, so besides the beekeeper’s name and address, the quantity, type of honey and best-before date, the jar should also state the country of origin. The institute recommends writing out ‘Česká republika’ or ‘Česko’ in full.

Buying online

For food sold at a distance, the mandatory label information must be available before the purchase is completed, on the website or by other means free of charge, as required by Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 (Article 14). Only the best-before date may wait until delivery. The country of origin of honey is a mandatory item, so an online shop should show it for every honey.

What the rule does not say

The address of the producer or packer is not the same as the country of origin. ‘Packed in the Czech Republic’ or a Czech company address does not mean that the honey is Czech; only the country-of-origin statement tells you that. If the packaging gave a false impression of Czech origin, it would be misleading the consumer.

The origin requirement covers honey as a product, not honey used in other foods. Biscuits or cereals with honey need not state where the honey came from. The exception is when the product itself states a country of origin (such as ‘made in Czechia’) and its primary ingredient comes from elsewhere: then Regulation 1169/2011 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/775 require this to be indicated too.

Who checks

In Czechia, honey in shops is checked by the State Agricultural and Food Inspection Authority (SZPI), and premises, beekeepers included, by the State Veterinary Administration. In 2025 SZPI took 37 samples of honey from retail and 17 fully complied. The most common faults included a wrongly declared botanical or geographical origin, raised hydroxymethylfurfural and foreign enzymes. Misleading consumers can be fined up to CZK 50 million under the Food Act, and SZPI publishes non-compliant batches on its ‘Potraviny na pranýři’ (Food in the pillory) portal.

Elsewhere in Europe

Some countries required countries of origin to be listed before the EU did. Spain introduced the rule by Royal Decree 523/2020, and France by a 2020 law that had to be re-adopted in 2021 because of a procedural error. In England, which did not take over the Breakfast Directive after Brexit, the Honey (England) Regulations 2015 still accept ‘blend of honeys from more than one country’.

What comes next

Directive 2024/1438 empowers the European Commission to set harmonised methods of analysis for detecting adulteration and verifying origin, and rules for traceability from the beekeeper or importer to the consumer. According to Ireland’s food safety authority (FSAI), the Commission is to adopt these acts after feasibility studies by June 2029. Since June 2024 it has been advised by an expert Honey Platform.