Considerations on COM(2024)194 -

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dossier COM(2024)194 - .
document COM(2024)194
date June 20, 2024
 
(1) The International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives, 2015 (‘the Agreement’) was signed on behalf of the Union in accordance with Council Decision (EU) 2016/18922 on 18 November 2016, subject to its conclusion at a later date. The Agreement entered into force provisionally on 1 January 2017 in accordance with Article 31(2) thereof and was concluded by the Union by way of Council Decision (EU) 2019/8483.

(2) Pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Agreement, the Council of Members of the International Olive Council (‘the Council of Members’) may take decisions and adopt recommendations for the application of the provisions of that Agreement.

(3) During its 119th session, to be held between 18 and 25 June 2024, the Council of Members is to adopt a decision amending the Trade Standard applying to olive oils and olive pomace oils and two decisions to update methods for the organoleptic assessment of virgin olive oils and to correct the method to determine the content of waxes and ethyl esters of fatty acids by capillary column gas chromatography.

(4) The decisions to be adopted during the 119th session of the Council of Members have been extensively discussed between scientific and technical experts on olive oil of the Commission and of the Member States. Those decisions will contribute to the international harmonisation of olive oil standards and will establish a framework which will ensure fair competition in the trading of products of the olive oil sector. The decisions should therefore be supported.

(5) It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on behalf of the Union within the Council of Members, as the amending decisions to be adopted will have legal effects on the Union as regards international trade with the other members of the International Olive Council (IOC) and will be capable of decisively influencing the content of Union law, namely on marketing standards concerning olive oil adopted by the Commission pursuant to Article 75 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council4.

(6) In case the adoption of the amending decisions during the 119th session of the Council of Members is postponed, as a result of some Members not being in a position to give their approval, the position set out in the Annex to this Decision should be taken on behalf of the Union within the framework of a possible procedure for adoption by the Council of Members by exchange of correspondence, pursuant to Article 10(6) of the Agreement provided that such procedure is initiated before the next regular session of the Council of Members in November 2024.

(7) Technical adaptations to other methods or documents of the IOC may however be agreed to by the representatives of the Union in the Council of Members of the IOC without further decision of the Council if those technical adaptations result from amendments related to the revision of the Trade Standard, of the method for the organoleptic assessment for virgin olive oils, and of the method to determine the content of waxes and ethyl esters of fatty acids by capillary column gas chromatography.

(8) In order to preserve the interest of the Union, the representatives of the Union in the Council of Members should however be allowed to request to postpone the adoption of the decisions amending Trade Standard or methods to a later session of the Council of Members, if the position to be taken on behalf of the Union is likely to be affected by new scientific or technical information presented before or during the 119th session.