Lucrări ştiinţifice Zootehnie şi Biotehnologii, vol. 40(2), (2007),Timişoara. IBRD CONCERNS REGARDING THE QUALITY HARMONIZATION OF ROMANIAN BEE PRODUCTS TO THE EUROPEAN LEGISLATION PREOCUPĂRILE I.C.D.A. PRIVIND ARMONIZAREA CONTROLULUI CALITĂŢII PRODUSELOR APICOLE ROMĂNEŞTI LA CERINŢELE LEGISLAŢIEI U.E. ANTONESCU CARMEN, MATESCU CRISTINA Institute for Beekeeping Research & Development, Bucharest, Romania To ensure the competitivity of the bee products a thorough and accurate quality control of their quality at the level of an authorized laboratory is necessary. Such a laboratory can only function with a specialized staff, using modern and reproducible analytical methods, and ISO certified equipments. This report presents the scientific and technical objectives of the specialized laboratories from IBRD meant to harmonize Romanian legislation and quality control of Romanian bee products to the European Union standards. Key words: bee products, quality control, European Regulatory Commission for food and honey. Introduction The Institute for Beekeeping Research and Development is the only beekeeping research institute in Romania. It was founded in June 1974. This historical moment is due to professor V. HARNAJ (1917-1988), president of APIMONDIA (1965 1985) and of the Romanian Beekeepers Association (1957 1982). This Romanian beekeeping institute has six research teams namely: genetics and improvement of honeybees; beekeeping technology and harvesting technology for bee products; beekeeping pathology; chemistry and technology of bee products; bee products for food and health apitherapy; Equipment and devices for beekeeping. The future prospective of the Institute for Beekeeping Research and Development are: (a) To extend the accreditation of the laboratory The Chemistry of Bee Products for additional analytical procedures (related to the quality control of raw bee products and food supplements). 56
(b) To comply with the E.U. regulation for bee products and food supplements and to implement the GMP regulations into its pilot station for food supplements and apitherapeutical medicines (prepared from raw bee products) for human health. To accomplish these main objectives the specialists from I.B.R.D.: have elaborated a strategy meant to build the awareness of all interested in this field; have developed a strategy meant to promote the new requirements of E.U. commission related to the quality of bee products. In the mean time the specialists of the institute have already begun to run a national campaign to promote this strategy among beekeepers. THE FIVE STEPS OF THIS COMPLEX CAMPAIGN ARE 1. Dissemination of European legislation related to the quality of bee products among the Romanian beekeepers. National conferences, work shops, training courses, TV and radio talk shows and publication of some articles in specialized reviews, are but a few of the manifestations where specialists of the IBRD are directly involved. The main topics discussed with the beekeepers are those regarding: The location of the apiaries in non polluted melliferous areas; safe, non-aggressive and non-polluting techniques for prevention and treatment of honey bee diseases; Equipments used in beekeeping; Hygiene regulations in beekeeping; Compliancy with the production conditions, namely with the specific parameters related to extraction // conditioning // packaging and storage of bee products; Packaging conditions and materials; Labeling of recipients; Storage conditions for bee products; The quality control of bee products. 2. Research projects on: The physical and chemical characterization of Romanian bee products, depending on the harvesting areas and harvesting season. Evaluation of the pollution (contamination) degree of Romanian bee products with heavy metals, pesticides and veterinary drugs residues, depending on the harvesting areas. The classification and mapping of national melliferous areas, depending on the risk of contamination of the bee products. Studies on the influence of environmental pollution on the quality of bee products. Studies on the influence of thermal treatment of crystallized honey on its glucydes and enzymatic spectrum. 57
The implementation of new quality criteria for Romanian bee products according to the Codex Alimentarius and International Honey Commission requirements. 3. Harmonization of quality parameters for Romanian bee products with the European Union Directives (797/EC/2004; 2001/110/EC; 2377/90 EEC; 96/23/EC; 2001/82/EC; 2004/28/EC; 2300/97; 1221/97), by actualization of national quality standards. As far as this issue is concerned, some achievements in this field have already been obtained. The specialists from the Institute for Beekeeping Research and Development have actualized the standards for: Honey acquisition and sale (according to the sort); Royal jelly, for acquisition and its use as raw material in food supplements; Bee wax, for acquisition and beekeeping use; Raw propolis, for acquisition and its use as raw material in food supplements and human medicines. 4. The harmonization of quality control protocols with the European requirements by: adapting and applying some reproducible and modern analytical methods (2002/657/EC, Codex STAN 228), accepted by the European Commission, FAO/OMS (Codex Alimentarius) Commissions and International Honey Commission; Endowment with high performance, modern and certified laboratory equipment; Training of the laboratory staff for the new analytical techniques. 5. The extension of the accreditation for The Chemistry of Bee Products Laboratory. In July 2006 The Chemistry of Bee Products Laboratory received its accreditation (for 16 analysis for raw bee products) from RENAR (The Romanian Association for Accreditation) a specialized organism which is authorized at the European level. In January 2006, the Institute for Beekeeping Research and Development Bucharest participated to the national scientific research competition Excellency in Research, with the research project: Conformity Certification for the Quality of Bee Products according to the European Regulations. The project is financed by Romanian Ministry for Education and Research. The extension of the accreditation will be getting (through this project) for an additional number of chemical analysis meant to certify the quality of raw bee products and food supplements. To accomplish its main goal, the development of the infrastructure for The Chemistry of Bee Products Laboratory is necessary. 58
The extension of the authorization for CBPL laboratory (in the field of quality control for raw bee products and food supplements) requires: (a) Additional analytical procedures for some physical and chemical parameters; (b) Development of a new analytical laboratory specialized for the control of residues (from raw bee products and food supplements) by endowment with some modern and certified equipment, among which, the most important are gas chromatograph and HPLC - MS; UV/VIS spectrophotometers etc. (c) A new approach regarding the introduction, harmonization and validation of some new analytical methods for the determination of veterinary residual contamination in raw bee products and food supplements, such as: antibiotic residues; pesticide residues; acaricide residues. (d) Training of the CBPL laboratory staff according to the ISO 17025 Standard and European Directives in the respective field. Conclusions This strategy (of the Institute for Beekeeping Research and Development Bucharest, Romania) for promoting the new requirements of E.U. commission regarding the quality of bee products (among Romanian beekeepers and Romanian bee product processors) is meant to: guarantee a rigorous quality control of raw bee products, at both national and international level, according to the latest requirements of the E.U. Commissions, ensuring the food and health security; Create opportunities for new jobs; Stimulate the development of Romanian beekeeping creating thus an increased interest of new people for this occupation; Enhance the awareness for quality conditions and the confidence of the consumer for safety consumption of these natural products; Influence positively the competitiveness of Romanian beekeeping. Bibliography 1. Antonescu Carmen, Mateescu Cristina (2001) Environmental pollution and its effects on honey quality, Roumanian Biotechnological Letters, vol. 6, nr. 5, pag. 371 379. 2. Bogdanov S., et al. (1999) Honey quality, methods of analysis and international regulatory standards: review of the work of the International Honey Commission, Mitt. Lebensm. Hyg., vol. 90, pag. 108 125. 3. Bogdanov S. (2003) Current State of Analytical Methods for the Detection of Residues in Bee Products, Apiacta, vol. 38, pp 190 197. 4. Bogdanov S., Verena Kilchemann, Ueli Butikofer (2003) Determination of acaricide residues in beeswax: a collaborative study, Apiacta, vol. 38, pag. 235 245. 59
5. Kaufmann A., Roth S., Ryser B., Widmer M. (2001) Quantitative LC MS MS determination of sulfonamides and some other antibiotics in honey, Journal of AOAC International, vol. 85, pag. 853 860. 6. Sabatini Anna Gloria, Carpana Emanuele, Serra Giorgia, Colombo R. (2003) Presence of acaricides and antibiotics in samples of italian honey, Apiacta, vol. 38, pag. 46 49. 7. Ordinul Ministerului Agriculturii, Pădurilor, Apelor şi Mediului şi al Ministerului Sănătăţii nr. 122/298 din 2001, publicat în M.O. 610/27.09.2001 care se referă la originea, conţinutul, prezentarea, calitatea, ambalarea şi etichetarea mierii. 8. Ordinul Ministerului Agriculturii, Pădurilor, Apelor şi Mediului nr. 356/2001 referitor la Normele sanitare veterinare privind limitele maxime stabilite pentru reziduuri de pesticide, reziduuri de medicamente de uz veterinar şi pentru alţă contaminanţi în produsele de origine animală. 9. Ordinul Ministerului Agriculturii, Pădurilor, Apelor şi Mediului nr. 357/2001 referitor la Normele sanitare veterinare privind măsurile de supraveghere şi control al unor substanţe şi al reziduurilor acestora la animalele vii şi produsele lor. 10. Directiva 2002/657/EC (2002) Metodele analitice de determinare a antibioticelor din miere. PREOCUPĂRILE I.C.D.A. PRIVIND ARMONIZAREA CONTROLULUI CALITĂŢII PRODUSELOR APICOLE ROMĂNEŞTI LA CERINŢELE LEGISLAŢIEI U.E. ANTONESCU CARMEN, MATESCU CRISTINA Institute for Beekeeping Research & Development, Bucharest, Romania Asigurarea competitivităţii produsele apicole presupune realizarea unui control riguros şi precis al calităţii lor într-un laborator autorizat. Un astfel de laborator poate funcţiona numai cu personal instruit, folosind metode moderne şi reproductibile şi echipamente certificate ISO.Lucrarea îşi propune prezentarea obiectivelor ştiinţifice şi tehnice ale laboratoarelor de specialitate din ICDA, în contextul armonizării legislaţiei şi controlului de calitate al produselor apicole la cerinţele standardelor U.E. Cuvinte cheie: produse apicole, controlul calităţii, cerinţele Comisiei Europene pentru alimente şi miere. 60