Canada has barred package honey bees from the United States since 1987. This submission to the CFIA argues that the ban now rests on risk assessments with acknowledged data gaps, does not fully weigh the economic cost of continued closure, and should be replaced with a science-based, hazard-by-hazard mitigation strategy.
Produced by the Alberta Beekeepers Commission and the Canadian Beekeepers Federation.
Background
Imports of US package bees have been restricted since 1987 over the risk of introducing pests and diseases. The CFIA has conducted risk assessments in 2003, 2014 and 2024; hand-picked queen bees have been permitted since 2004, but packages remain barred. The 2024 assessment identified four hazards of concern — Small Hive Beetle, Africanized honey bees, American foulbrood and Varroa mites — and concluded that, for each, entry, exposure and establishment would be effectively certain, with a moderate impact. (European foulbrood was set aside for lack of scientific data.)
The submission’s position
To change that conclusion, the CFIA requires an applicant to demonstrate mitigation measures that are “practical, feasible and effective” enough to meet its Notional Risk Level. The Alberta Beekeepers Commission compiled the existing research, operating practices and best-management options, assessed the CFIA’s own documentation, and consulted the Canadian Honey Council, the Canadian Beekeepers Federation, the Manitoba Beekeepers Association and the USDA Agricultural Research Service, among others.
Its conclusion: the current prohibition rests on assessments that themselves acknowledge data gaps and uncertainties, and does not fully weigh the significant economic consequences of continued closure for beekeepers on both sides of the border. A blanket national ban may also expose Canada to US trade retaliation — a risk the submission considers material and, in the current climate, necessary to weigh. The submission does not dispute the CFIA’s work within its stated scope; it asks that additional options and analysis be considered.
What it asks for
A proposed Risk Mitigation Strategy sets out, hazard by hazard, the measures that would reduce each risk to a negligible level and allow the safe importation of US honey bee packages — in place of continued absolute closure of the border.