An attempt has been made to simplify the toil by supermarket chains and other offshore customers for the verification of the quality of manuka honey. The manuka honey industry in New Zealand has reportedly arranged for two laboratories in Asia and Europe for the testing of the manuka honey for antibacterial activity.

Some two other labs are already said to be being used by the processors and exporters in New Zealand. These two labs would not only be used to test the anti-bacterial activity but would also look for chemical markers such as the methylglyoxal content.

Active Manuka Honey Association (AMHA) General Manager, John Rawlcliffe said, "The New Zealand honey market faces challenges from overseas. It needs to move past its own internal positioning and ensure that the honey standards can be protected and affirmed in an international market".

Earlier too, AMHA is said to put in efforts for the support and protection of its UMF (unique manuka factor) quality mark. It too has defended the statement concerning the use of methylglyoxal alone as a measure of the antibacterial properties of the honey.

Since the measure is not a segment of the protected UMF labeling system, some other Companies that did not belong to the association are said to have favored the measure.