Registration of Beekeepers Becomes Mandatory in 2023
Beekeepers started 2023 with something new. From this year, the registration of beekeepers has become mandatory, in particular, the movement of bee families, buying and selling, and product sales are prohibited without registration.
As Mikheil Sokhadze, head of FAO's identification-registration, told bm.ge, among other benefits, this program, which is in full compliance with European legislation, will also encourage exports, as any country requires that the products they purchase be traceable and controlled by the state.
"The initiators of the program are the beekeepers themselves. They try to export bees and bee products. Accordingly, they want to issue such a certificate in Georgia, which will simplify and facilitate the difficult export process. Several dozen beekeepers have been registered since October-November, these are the farmers who are trying to export their products" - says Mikheil Sokhadze.
The beekeepers' registration program is positively evaluated in the Association of Beekeepers of Georgia and it is assumed that drawing up specific plans will be easier with the help of the program. In addition, they are also considering the production of queen bees in the future. With the help of the registration program, Georgian bees will have more opportunities to export, and beekeepers will have additional income.
"The program serves the traceability of honey. Beekeeping is not only honey production. We are also planning to produce other products. Beekeeping in its potential is in no way inferior to winemaking. With the help of description-registration, we will accurately calculate this potential, for example, we will determine in which region how much and what kind of honey we will have, where and what problems beekeepers face. At the same time, we are also thinking about the export of Caucasian bee queens, and the program will promote the export of queen bees, and beekeepers will have additional income" - says Aleko Papava, the founder of the Association of Georgian Beekeepers.
For information: The National Food Agency, with the support of the National Animal Registration System project of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, provides registration of bee farms free of charge.