Opposition MP calls for vet certificates declaring imported bees were free of pests

Opposition MP Mario Galea called on the government to publish the veterinary certificates that proved that a recent importation of bees were free of pests.

Speaking in Parliament during the second reading of the Budgetary Measures Implementation Bill, he also called on the government to publish signed and stamped trace certificates to prove that the bees originated in France and not in Sicily.

In January, renowned Italian apiculturist Ermanno De Chino imported 445 nucleus bee colonies to Gozo, for use by his new company Melita Bees Limited to produce queen bees for export. Agriculture parliamentary secretary Roderick Galdes has claimed that certificates prove that De Chino’s bees originated in the north of France. However, beekeepers have claimed that they actually originated in Sicily, which has been ravaged by the small hive beetle since spreading to the island from Reggio in November. 

The European Commission has since ordered Italy to ban the exportation of bees and beekeeping equipment from Sicily to other EU member states. 

“A detailed inspection of the hives would have taken up to three days, whereas a beekeeper has claimed that the border control vets only checked the hives’ certificates without carrying out any physical inspections on them,” Galea said.

In response, Galdes accused Galea of not knowing how the trace certificate system works.

“The European market is considered to be one single market, and the trace certificates were therefore issued by the French authorities after they had declared them free of pests,” Galdes said. “Nevertheless, local vets didn’t simply rely on what the trace certificates said, but also carried out the necessary inspections.”

Galea questioned why the trucks bearing the hives stopped off in Pozzallo before arriving in Malta, rather than travelling directly from France to Malta. He also pointed out that the design of the imported hives look identical to those used in Ispica, a village in Sicily where De Chino’s Sicilian bee-breeding company is based.  

He also pointed out that the importation could lead to inter-breeding with local bees on a level that could threaten the local bees’ genetic identity.

“A circulating online petition, signed by over 500 people, is appealing to the government to halt what they have described as a DNA intrusion,” Galea said. “Although Galdes has said that queen bees were imported in the past, beekeepers have informed me that such importations were miniscule in comparison to this most recent one.” 

In response, Galdes described these allegations as ‘hearsay’.

“There is no scientific evidence that proves that the importation of bees could threaten the genetic identity of the local bee,” Galdes said. “If new scientific evidence emerges to prove that it can, the government will request the European Commission to introduce safeguards aimed at protecting the local bee.”