Proposal for a Council Decision establishing the position to be adopted on behalf of the European Union with regard to certain decisions to be adopted in the framework of the International Olive Council (IOC)

The International Olive Council (IOC) is an intergovernmental scientific and technical organisation active in the sector of olive oil and table olives. Currently the IOC is composed of 16 members, among which the European Union. At EU level, pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products (CMO Regulation), certain decisions adopted and published by the IOC affect EU law.

On the basis of discussions held within the groups of experts preparing for the next meeting of the Council of the IOC, scheduled for 15 July 2016, it can be expected that the following five Decisions, producing legal effects within the EU acquis, will be on the agenda for adoption:
– A draft Decision modifying the trade standard applying to olive oils and olive pomace oils: modification of the limit of ethyl esters.
– A draft Decision modifying the trade standard applying to olive oils and olive pomace oils: modification of the limits of heptadecanoic, heptadecenoic and ecoseinoic acids.
– A draft Decision modifying the trade standard applying to olive oils and olive pomace oils: modification of the limit of the specific extinction coefficient at wavelength 270 (k270).
– A draft Decision modifying the trade standard applying to olive oils and olive pomace oils: official notification of the ISO methods adopted with a view to achieving full harmonisation and inclusion of a reference to the new peroxide value method.
– A draft Decision adopting the new method of analysis for the determination of the peroxide value.

The above mentioned decisions have been extensively discussed between scientific and technical experts of the olive oil sector. They contribute to the international harmonisation of the olive oil standard and they will set a framework which will ensure fair competition in the trading of the olive oil sector. They should therefore be supported.

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)373: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2016:373:FIN

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