Industry Wide Class Action Lawsuit Alleging Transshipment of Chinese Honey Dismissed

BAYTOWN, Texas, Nov. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Honey Holding I, Ltd d/b/a Honey Solutions ("Honey Solutions"), an industrial honey importer and processor, announced today that the Honorable Judge Joan B. Gottschall of the U.S. District Court in Chicago has dismissed the remaining aspects of the putative Class Action Lawsuit, which had alleged that many of the U.S. honey industry's largest importers were involved in a global conspiracy to transship Chinese honey and evade millions of dollars of anti-dumping duties (Case No. 13-CV-02905 in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division).  The Lawsuit had alleged claims against numerous honey importers like Honey Solutions, whose honey supply chain has been verified by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's C-TPAT program ("Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism") and also certified members of True Source Honey, LLC ("True Source"), including Bees Brothers, LLC., Ecotrade International, Inc., Odem International, Inc., and Sunland Trading, Inc.  True Source is a voluntary system that seeks to maintain honey origin traceability.  Other named Defendants in the Lawsuit included National Honey, Inc., Jun Yang and Urbain Tran.

Judge Gottschall's Order of final dismissal was entered after the Court conducted a fairness hearing to approve the settlements with each of the remaining Defendants in the putative Class Action Lawsuit for a total amount of $796,312.00, which some have described as comparable to a "cost of defense" amount paid to close a nuisance lawsuit.  Each of the Defendants have vigorously contested the claims throughout the litigation, and Defendants have now been released as part of their settlement agreements.

In April 2015, the honey supply chain for Honey Solutions was certified by the C-TPAT program as maintaining security management practices to mitigate against contraband honey.  Earlier this year, Honey Solutions was awarded C-TPAT Level 2 certification.  Additionally, Honey Holding has been a proponent of third-party laboratory testing on 100% of its foreign honey imports for origin confirmation utilizing mellisopalynology (pollen analysis).  This third-party origin certification, combined with standard documentation, including certificates of origin and U.S. Customs forms, insures the customers an undeniable validation of the country of origin for the honey they purchase from Honey Solutions. 

About Honey Holding I, Ltd.

Located in Baytown, Texas, Honey Holding is one of the largest processors of industrial honey in the United States, supplying most of America's premier bakers and food processors.  Learn more at www.honeysolutions.com

Media Contact:                                                 

Doug Murphy

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2815761700

SOURCE Honey Holding I

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