Release No. 068-15

Contact:

Hakim Fobia, (202) 690-0488

hakim.fobia@ams.usda.gov

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2015 -- First handlers and importers of honey and honey products voted to continue the Honey Packers and Importers Research, Promotion, Consumer Education, and Industry Information Order. The vote was taken in a referendum conducted by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service from April 13 through April 24, 2015.

In the referendum, 79 percent of those who voted, representing 94 percent of the voted volume of honey and honey products favored continuation of the order. Any current first handler or importer who handled or imported 250,000 or more pounds of honey and honey products during the representative period Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2014, was eligible to vote. Based on the referendum results, the order will continue.

The National Honey Board will continue to administer the order. The order, which became effective on May 22, 2008, authorizes the board to conduct a coordinated program of promotion, research, and consumer and industry information to maintain and expand the market for honey and honey products. The board is composed of 10 members appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture from nominees submitted by the honey industry.

Research and promotion programs help to expand, maintain and develop markets for individual commodities in the United States and abroad. They allow commodity groups to conduct promotion, market and production research, and new product development for the benefit of their industries. For more information about research and promotion programs, visit www.ams.usda.gov/FVPromotion.

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