Laurence Edwards' petition to allow the use of the word "Raw" to describe unheated, non-pressure filtered honey.

[Sanntos]

The accreditation process for Red Tractor is quite onerous from what farmers have told me. Not sure many would want to go through it unless there is a significant benefit. Sont think want audits on where I store Ox Acid or calibration records for my warming cabinet and api melter just to have a meaningless word or a red tractor on my label.

Do it the other way around, no calibration records or audits, only a genuine beekeeper logo

 

[Murox]

No, they can be deduced. Accreditation schemes are a double edged sword, they start off as good for a few top level producers then become a rod for everyone to be beaten with. It will not protect us in the long run, we need something much better........snip..............
The UK industries with Red Tractor are not protected from cheaper foreign imports produced to lower (welfare) standards. Why would honey be(e)?

We have a decent legal framework for defining honey, we just need to enforce it. IMO, the best solution would be to make it a legal requirement for all food imported to be produced to existing UK standards (possible exception for specific regional produce with protected production methods). This will never happen. This government had a chance to do it, the farmers desperately campaigned for it but were ignored. I have very strong views on that.

I agree, my point was not well expressed perhaps - because there are no criteria and no organisation and poor enforcement of current law the BFA or other respected body could be influencing and creating .............................

 

[Wilco]

I agree, my point was not well expressed perhaps - because there are no criteria and no organisation and poor enforcement of current law the BFA or other respected body could be influencing and creating .............................

I suppose we could always start here. Come up with a legally protected logo which we make available to any UK beekeeper who wants to use it (if it needs a register keeping we'd need to think about data protection and maybe charge a £5 fee for initial registration but I'd be hesitant to make it an annual subscription if not strictly necessary).

Something like a basic flower shape where the centre is either a UK flag or the flag of any of the nations which comprise the UK (which to use being the choice of the producer). Website to explain it, option for producers to be listed on the site for a small fee to cover running costs of the site...

@intothelionsden how hard/expensive is it to get a logo (4-5 variants on a design) trademarked?