True Source Honey - Ethically Sourced. Perfectly Delicious.

Valued as a natural, healthful and delicious food, honey has long been treasured by Americans. Growing demand for honey has for some time been fulfilled by both domestic and imported sources, most of high quality and ethical origins. But sustaining quality honey supplies to U.S. customers and consumers is increasingly challenging. Because of growing demand, and damage to U.S. bee colonies from colony collapse disorder, an increasing amount of honey must be imported.

U.S. antidumping duties and quality controls are in place to protect U.S. consumers – and honey companies – from often cheaper and less regulated honey products from abroad. However, some honey brokers and importers illegally circumvent these restrictions, selling honey to U.S. companies that is of questionable origin and which threatens the U.S. honey industry by undercutting fair market prices and damaging honey's reputation for purity and safety. Specifically, honey originating from China is being transshipped through other countries to avoid U.S. trade duties. True Source Honey, LLC estimates that the U.S. lost up to $100 million in 2008 and $106 million in 2009 in uncollected duties because of illegal honey imports.

In fact, some Chinese supply chain service providers indicate on their Web site that they work as intermediaries to "switch documents reasonably" and "issue CO [Country of Origin] of Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, [and] Bangladesh in order to avoid tariff barriers."

As honey companies are undercut by these illegal imports, ethical U.S. companies and beekeepers find it harder to compete. Quality U.S. honey operations are essential not just to produce high-quality honey supplies, but also for the honeybees needed to pollinate dozens of fruit, vegetable and seed crops across the United States.

And strides have been made to protect the honey supply. In addition to our outreach to the Food and Drug Administration to establish a legal definition of honey, states like Florida and California approved legislation in 2009 to address the need for a honey standard. But there's more we can do.

Don't Take Our Word For It

• Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  • Country of origin no guarantee on cheap imports
    In the U.S., where demand for imported honey is soaring, traders are resorting to elaborate schemes to dodge tariffs and health safeguards in order to dump cheap honey on the market.
  • Experts call for better U.S. standards
    How to keep adulterated or contaminated honey from reaching American store shelves?
• Southern Shrimp Alliance Press Release
  • GAO Study Links Duty Circumvention with Evasion of Food Safety Laws
    FDA is working with Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security to target commodities that pose health and safety risks through Operation Guardian, which is an enforcement initiative to deal with imported substandard, tainted, and counterfeit products. Operation Guardian's efforts have led to seizures of such commodities as pharmaceuticals, steel components, honey, shrimp, and toys.

• Washington Post  
  • Swarming to arrest honey importers
    The recent crackdown of importers trying to smuggle honey into the U.S. market at prices that undercut domestic producers leads to the arrest of individuals involved in laundering honey to avoid tariffs.

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