A Study on the Implementation of HACCP System Categories in the Honeybee Industry with Case Studies of Australian B-QUAL and Canadian CBISQT

With the recent amendment of the Livestock Industry Act(LIA), honeybees have been classified as livestock, and rearing, disease control, and hygiene standards for honeybees are now applied similarly to other livestock. However, honeybees are not yet included as livestock under the Livestock Products Sanitation Control Act(LPSCA), and thus HACCP has not been applied to honeybee farms. This study investigated hygiene management systems currently applied to honeybee farms abroad and explored ways to adapt domestic HACCP standards for application to honeybee farms in Korea. Australia’s B-QUAL and Canada’s CBISQT certifications are internationally recognized farm food safety programs based on HACCP principles. These programs establish detailed hygiene standards for beekeeping facilities, processing equipment, veterinary drugs, and packaging materials, as well as monitoring and corrective actions for effective management. In Korea, HACCP is currently applied to livestock farms raising animals such as cattle, pigs, and chickens. We compared and evaluated existing farm HACCP criteria with domestic regulations and international standards to propose applicable criteria for honeybee industry. These findings indicate that applying HACCP to honeybee farms in Korea is feasible. The results of this study can serve as baseline data for establishing hygiene practices in apiaries. Further scientific hazard analysis on apicultural products will support the implementation of HACCP in beekeeping operations.