Madrid - The International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives, 2015, was negotiated under the rules of the United Nations and has three general goals:
- Research and standardisation: to seek to achieve uniformity in national and international legislation relating to the physico-chemical and organoleptic characteristics of olive oils, olive pomace oils and table olives in order to prevent any obstacle to trade;
- Olive growing, olive oil technology and technical cooperation: to promote technical cooperation and research and development in the olive sector by encouraging the cooperation of public or private bodies and/or entities, whether national or international;
- Promotion of olive oil products, dissemination of information and the olive oil economy: to enhance the role of the International Olive Council as a world documentation and information centre about the olive tree and its products and as a meeting point for all the operators in the sector.
Under this new International Agreement, the IOC is moving closer to both traditional and non-traditional producer and consumer countries. The activities of the new Observatory of the IOC concern these three general goals and seek to support all the stakeholders in the worldwide olive oil sector in achieving them. IOC Members currently account for 94% of global olive oil production, 96% of global exports, and 72% of global consumption. The goal is to increase these results in order to stabilise the market and provide more guarantees to consumers around the world.
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