Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights Roderick Galdes said today there was ‘unjustified alarm’ being kicked up by Maltese bee keepers over the importation of French queen bees, even though he himself had met them and given them all necessary information.

Answering parliamentary questions by opposition MP Ćensu Galea, he said this was not the first importation in recent years, even by the government itself for research. To date there were no scientific reports to justify a ban on the importation of healthy European bees, and definitely no case for persuading the EU in this sense.

Mr Galdes said that what he worried most about was some individual breeders seeking to bypass the system, at times even receiving bees by mail.

The case about which the controversy had been kicked up was a straightforward investment of millions of euros, with all necessary inspections having been carried out by vets in Gozo. A Maltese company was also involved in the project.

It could be ascertained that the imported bees were not coming from Sicily, which along with parts of southern Italy was battling a contagious form of bee disease. The French bees had been imported on apposite vehicles by catamaran.

Mr Galdes said discussions were in hand with local breeders on increasing existent controls. Having said that, the disease could still enter Malta on any vehicle sailing over from Sicily.

Environment Minister Leo Brincat had earlier told Mr Galea that inspections on the catamaran were held only when there was any suspicion of abuse. Mr Galdes said the catamaran service had, as usual, been stopped in January for maintenance purposes.