Ethiopian Federal Laws

A PROCLAMATION TO PROVIDE FOR APICULTURE RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AND PROTECTION

WHEREAS, it is necessary to promote household and commercial beekeeping development in areas of high apiculture resource potential to realize appropriate contribution of the sub sector in the process of rapid economic development;

WHEREAS, it has become necessary to ensure sustainable contribution of honey products in enhancing production and food security and poverty reduction efforts;

WHEREAS, proper development of apiculture resources require the conservation of the biodiversity of honey bee races and honey source plants;

NOW, THEREFORE, in accordance with Article 55 sub article (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia it is hereby proclaimed as follows:

1. Short Title

This Proclamation may be cited as “Apiculture Resources Development and Protection Proclamation No. 660/2009.”

2. Definitions

1. “honeybee” means social insects that can produce honey and other honeybee products and it does not include non-stinging bees and other species of bees;
2. “honeybee colony” means a group of honeybees nesting in a hive or in its natural habitat with stratified social structure including worker bees, queen bee, drones, eggs and bee broods;
3. “apiculture resources” means colony of honeybees residing in forests and hives and honey source plant potentials available in nature;
4. “honeybee products” means honey, bees wax, pollen, royal jelly, propolis, bee broods and bee venom that are naturally produced by honeybees;
5. “hive” means shelter of colony of honey -bees constructed for use in dwelling, reproducing and honey production purpose;
6. “beekeeping” means the entrepreneurial practice of harvesting honey, beeswax and other honeybee products by keeping a colony of honeybees within hives;
7. “beekeeper” means a person who is engaged in keeping of honeyhee colonies in hives;
8. “person” means any natural or legal person;
9. “backyard beekeeping development” means household activity of harvesting produces by keeping honeybee colonies in hives at household or backyard level;
10. “field beekeeping development” means any beekeeping activities undertaken at or around forest, bush land or farmlands through providing suitable condition for the habitation and operation of colonies of honeybees;
11. “commercial beekeeping development” means commercial scale development of honeybee products by non-agriculture business person through keeping of honeybee colonies in permanent apiaries or by making use of migratory beekeeping at various locations suitable for the operation of colonies of honeybees;
12. “migratory beekeeping” means honey harvesting method that employs transportation of colonies of honeybees into high concentration honey source plant sites while keeping them there for a certain period of time following the course of blooming season of honey plants;
13. “honey” means natural sweet food substance produced by honeybees from the nectar of blossoms which honeybees collect, transform and combine with specific of their own enzyme, store and leave in the honeycomb to ripen and mature, and it may not include honey produced by sting less or honey processed by artificial means;
14. “honey hunting” means collection of honey after searching and finding the natural nesting sites of honey bee colonies;
15. “honey harvesting” means removal of honey from bee hives during the honey harvesting season upon determining the honey produced by honeybees is ripe;
16. “beekeeping equipment” means any type of hives, protective clothing of beekeepers or any beekeeping device for use in producing and processing honey, beeswax or other honeybee products;
17. “pollination service” means the process of crossing or breeding of honey plant species by honeybees by transferring pollen from the male germplasm of the flower to the female germplasm of the same or different plant species, created while collecting nectar and pollen;
18. “swarming honeybees” means a phenomenon in which colonies of honeybees set out or leaving their hives, cavity or other location of nesting in part or in all for new living place;
19. “urban beekeeping” means beekeeping activity that takes place in or around an urban area;
20. “flight path” means the route taken by worker bees in their outward or inward flight;
21. “queen bee rearing” means the practice of queen bee raising through various working techniques or artificial methods;
22. “bee research” means study research undertakings related to beekeeping on characterization of honeybee races, honeybee biology, honeybee pathology, honeybee management and other aspects of honeybees and includes collection of honeybee races for zoological museum purposes;
23. “Ministry” means Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;
24. “state” means any state referred to in Article 47(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and includes the Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa city administrations;
25. any expression in the masculine gender includes the feminine.

3. Apiculture Resources Development

1. Any person may undertake backyard or field beekeeping development on his own premises or fields under his possession.
2. Any person who wishes to undertake beekeeping development activities in natural resource rehabilitation area enclosure, community forest, state forest or wildlife park and protection area shall obtain written permit from the body that is authorized for the administration of such land.
3. Any person who wishes to undertake commercial beekeeping development or commercial queen bee rearing shall obtain a business license issued pursuant to the relevant laws.
4. Any foreigner who wishes to engage in bee research shall obtain a written permit issued by the Ministry.
5. Any person who engages in urban beekeeping activities shall:
   1. possess basic beekeeping training certificate or employ persons having such training certificates;
   2. place the colonies of honeybees at locations away from the reach of animals and children; and
   3. build flight path fencing wall or live fencing or tight mesh wire fencing with the height of at least three meters above ground.
6. Any person who undertakes migratory beekeeping shall:
   1. obtain a written authorization issued by the possessor of the land to be used for placing the colony of honeybees;
   2. when transporting honeybee colonies, make sure that containers are covered with light mesh wire sheets or woven fabric seal that allows air into the containers and not take a pause on the way or come to a halt at locations of human and animal traffic areas so as to avoid accidental bee sting attack against persons or animals; and
   3. attach distinctive mark on his hives.
7. Any person may bait and make use of swarming honeybees; provided however, that he may have no title right where the rightful beekeeper is the first to promptly trace and arrive at the location where the swarms which evacuated the hives are landing.
8. Any beekeeper who leases colonies of honeybees for pollination services shall, when placing the colonies of bees for the anticipated purpose, ensure that care has been taken to prevent accidental bee sting attack against local community members of animals in transit.

4. Apiculture Resources Protection

1. Any beekeeper shall, in the course of his operations, protect and conserve the apiculture resources.
2. Any person who practices honey hunting from forest, rock or cave nested honeybee colonies shall keep the removal of honey without causing any damage on the honeybee colonies and natural resource ecology of the area.
3. To protect indigenous honeybee species from communicable honeybee diseases:
   1. importation of live bee species or used beekeeping or processing equipment or materials shall be prohibited;
   2. importation of raw honey, beeswax or other bee product shall be accompanied by hygiene inspection certificate signed by the appropriate authority of the country of origin;
   3. hygiene certification may be requested or inspection may be required on any used beekeeping equipment in transit to the country unless the packaging requirement is recognized.
4. Unless licensed for queen bee rearing activity, no person shall be allowed to export live honeybees for development or research purposes.
5. Any person engaged in crop protection undertakings shall have the responsibility to take proper precaution to avoid poisoning fatalities that may occur on honeybees due to improper use of pesticide chemicals.
6. No person shall set fire against colonies of honeybees either intentionally or due to negligence.

5. Handling of Beekeeping Equipment

Beekeeping equipment and accessory material inventories shall be kept in warehouses free from chemical exposures.

6. Information Exchange

1. Concerned state bodies shall collect, compile and send apiculture data and information to the Ministry.
2. The Ministry shall make apiculture data and information and research findings compiled from various sources and their assessment outcomes available to states and other users.

7. Apiculture Resources Development Inspectors

1. Any apiculture resources development inspector assigned by the Ministry or the appropriate state organ shall have the powers and duties to:
   1. enter, during working hours, the premises of a beekeeper and undertake inspection and assessment of beekeeping equipment and beekeeping practices to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Proclamation and regulations and directives issued hereunder;
   2. request any beekeeper to furnish any information related to his operations; and
   3. submit, to the appropriate body, evidences gathered in the course of carrying out inspections and are relevant for prosecuting violations of the provisions of this Proclamation
2. Any beekeeper shall have the duty to cooperate with the apiculture resources development inspector in providing information and facilitating the conduct of inspection.

8. Penalty

1. Any person who undertakes commercial beekeeping or queen rearing or who found in act of without written permit from supervising authority in rehabilitation area closure or community forest or state forest or wildlife parks and reserve areas is punishable with a fine from Birr 2,000 to Birr5,000 or imprisonment up to one year or both.
2. Any person who exercise improper handling of data and information on activities related to beekeeping and processing and discourages furnishing of data and information when requested or transport honeybee colonies without covering with mesh wire or kaki fabric and take a stop at locations of human and animal traffic areas is punishable with a fine from Birr 1,500 to Birr 3,000 or imprisonment from six months up to one year or both.
3. Any person who commits hazard on natural habitat while operating beekeeping or cause to spread honeybee diseases to healthy colonies or induce harm on beekeeping and bee products due to improper use of pesticides or cause damage on the honeybee colonies and ecology of the area due to fire hazard while honey hunting is punishable with a fine from Birr 5,000 to Birr 10,000 or imprisonment from three up to seven years or both.
4. Any person who defy, threatens or put in danger the supervising authority is punishable with a fine from Birr 2,000 to Birr 5,000 or imprisonment from two up to five years or both.
5. Any person who found in act of processing, transporting or market supplying to the market place or consumer market sale or transfer of adulterated, contaminated or poisoned bee products is punishable with a fine from Birr 10,000 to Birr 15,000 or imprisonment from five up to ten years or both
6. Any person who imports or exports or attempts to import or export live bee species or honeybee races or used beekeeping equipment or goods without the operating permits or contrary to the conditions thereof, or any person who commits or attempts any honeybee races smuggling is punishable with a fine from Birr 15,000 to Birr 20,000 or imprisonment from ten up to fifteen years or both.
7. Any person who violates the provisions of this Proclamation or any regulations and directives to be issued according to this Proclamation or causes any obstruction in the implementation process is punishable with imprisonment up to five years.

9. Power to issue Regulation and Directives

1. The Council of Ministers may issue regulations necessary for the implementation of this Proclamation.
2. The Ministry may issue directives necessary for the implementation of this Proclamation and regulations issued pursuant to sub-article (1) of this Article.

10. Inapplicable Laws

No law, regulations, directives or customary practices shall, in so far as they are inconsistent with this Proclamation, be applicable with respect to matters provided for by this Proclamation.

11. Effective Date

This Proclamation shall enter into force up on the date of publication in the Federal Negarit Gazeta

Done at Addis Ababa, this 24th day of December , 2009
GIRMA WOLDEGIORGIS
PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA