Who are the buyers seeking BiH honey for the Arab market?

There are an increasing number of trading companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina seeking honey from BiH beekeepers, which they allegedly want to market in Arab countries. The price of first-class honey produced in BiH reaches over 100 KM per kilogram in luxury shops in Arab countries.

BiH beekeepers warn that a major fraud could occur with domestic honey. Bosnian and Herzegovinian beekeepers produce honey of world quality, and the demand for it is high, but they do not have sufficient quantities for export. Therefore, they fear that buyers, in their pursuit of quick and easy profit, might import honey from other countries and then sell it under the label of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which could cause great damage to BiH beekeepers.

Several companies that have been seeking honey across BiH in recent months are generally not involved in beekeeping. They see good profit in the purchase and resale of honey.

The same happened with meat. When BiH livestock breeders did not have sufficient quantities for Turkish buyers, they started importing meat from third countries, repackaging it in BiH, and then selling the same meat to the Turks as a BiH product. Misappropriation was also noticed in the export of vegetables from BiH to Russia. In both cases, importing countries discovered the fraud and imposed sanctions on BiH. Due to the interests of a few intermediaries, all producers in BiH are now suffering.

Samir Omerović, president of the Association of Beekeepers' Associations of Sarajevo Canton, told Patria that the honey produced by BiH beekeepers is of world quality and that the demand for it is high, but that beekeepers still do not produce quantities of honey that could ensure continuous export. It is especially difficult this year, when beekeepers did not collect enough honey even for their own needs.

- BiH beekeepers could organize themselves and offer honey on the world market, but only if a buyer appeared who would offer a serious price for our honey. And that would mean at least 30 KM per kilogram. Unfortunately, I fear that someone thinks they can buy honey in BiH for three or four euros and sell it in Arab countries for fifty or a hundred euros – warned Omerović. He called on the competent institutions in BiH to intensify controls on the import and export of honey from BiH, writes NAP.