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The Executive Director of the International Olive Council was recently received at the Saudi Embassy by His Highness Prince Mansour bin Khalid bin Abdullah Alfarhan Al-Saud, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Spain since June 2012.
The Executive Director paid this official visit to the Ambassador on 30 May 2016 as part of a round of ongoing contacts with the diplomatic representatives of olive oil consuming countries, which the International Olive Council wishes to attract to the membership of the IOC.
During the appointment, the Executive Director explained the structure and functions of the International Olive Council and the procedure for becoming a Member of the Organisation. He also outlined the innovative aspects of the new International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives negotiated in 2015, which will open its doors for the first time to consumer countries and strengthen IOC action in specific areas relating to the olive products industry. He had the pleasure of presenting His Highness with a copy of the new Agreement, which is due to enter into force in January 2017 and will remain so until 31 December 2026.
After listening closely to the Executive Director’s explanations about IOC activities and accession procedures, the Ambassador said that he found the IOC laboratory guidance programme aimed at helping testing laboratories to earn official IOC recognition to be an attractive initiative for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He also expressed interest, in principle, in its joining the IOC.
On taking leave of His Highness, the Executive Director presented him with a specially dedicated Arab-language copy of the IOC’s World Olive Encyclopaedia.
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