The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has backed this Saturday the Government’s decision to remove from the market 12% of the olive oil production from the current campaign, an action that he has described as “absolutely necessary, timely and based on European law.”
Planas has insisted that the fundamental objective of this intervention is “to ensure that the entire sector is profitable” and to guarantee that primary producers retain profit margins in a year marked by an abundant harvest. As he has detailed, the Government Delegation said in a press release, that the collection forecasts stand at 1.6 million tonnes and add to existing stocks from the previous campaign of 357,000 tonnes, which brings the total volume close to two million tonnes.
The head of Agriculture has placed particular focus on traditional olive groves, “so important for many towns” and which bear production costs far higher than those of the intensive and superintensive model. “The measure is intended to provide stability to the market and to support those who need it most,” he stressed, also pointing out that the initiative responds to a demand put forward by agricultural professional organizations and agri-food cooperatives.
During his participation in the first oil festival in Úbeda (Jaén), Planas highlighted that the resolution of the Directorate General of Agricultural Productions and Markets, published yesterday in the Official State Gazette, is the result of “rigorous work carried out over months, in which the olive oil campaigns of the last 20 years have been analyzed, and which is based on European and national law.”
The mechanism that allows a part of production to be immobilized in scenarios of excess supply is included in the operating regulation of the Common Organization of Agricultural Markets of the European Union. The minister also stressed that this withdrawal should not be passed on to the prices paid by the end consumer and, in this context, he asked that “no one take advantage of this opportunity to speculate” and warned that the Government “will be there to prevent it.”
Planas has also highlighted the broad scope for growth of Spanish olive oil in international markets, where last year a little more than one million tons were sold. In particular, he has mentioned the upcoming reduction in tariffs in China, which will go from 10% to 5%, as well as the agreements reached by the European Union with Mercosur and India, which open up new opportunities for the sector.