Honey summit to end sticky manuka troubles with New Zealand

The federal government wants Australian and New Zealand beekeepers to hold a "workshop" to end a long running trans-Tasman battle over manuka honey.

"This is a ridiculous argument," said Paul Callander, chairman of the Australian Manuka Honey Association.

NZ producers have attempted to trademark the term in at least seven jurisdictions and so far, the federal government has resisted calls to provide financial support to Australian beekeepers to fight the move.

"I … propose that the Australian and New Zealand governments jointly facilitate a workshop with our respective manuka honey industries," Mr Tehan said, in a statement to the ABC.

The push for a trademark has been led by a group of Kiwi producers and the Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association.

But Dr Peter Brooks from the University of the Sunshine Coast, who has researched the chemical properties of manuka honey for a decade, said the trademark push seemed to be a "cash grab".

"You get slight regional differences, slight climate differences, but basically the chemical makeup of New Zealand and Australian manuka honey is almost identical," he said.

"I'd like to see Australia block NZ honey imports, until the kiwis back down on this manuka nonsense.