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Madrid – The Executive Director of the International Olive Council (IOC), Abdellatif Ghedira, was welcomed warmly by the Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Madrid, H.E. Ramiz Hasanov, at the embassy on 26 January 2023.
The Council of Members adopted decision DEC-I.2/116-VI/2022 on the prospective accession of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives 2015 through written procedure on 23 October 2022.
Mr Ghedira was accompanied by Deputy Executive Director Mustafa Sepetçi to discuss how to speed up Azerbaijan’s accession, given that the deadline set out in the decision was 1 November 2023. Mr Hasanov explained the accession process to the Executive Director, which was under review by the Ministry of Economy before proceeding to parliament. He also pointed out that provisional application would not be possible under domestic law.
Mr Ghedira told the Azerbaijani Ambassador that he looked forward to the Republic of Azerbaijan finalising its accession to the International Agreement. He hoped it could deposit the instrument of accession before the June 2023 session so that the ceremony to raise the Azerbaijan flag in front of IOC headquarters along with other members could be held. Mr Sepetçi added that the IOC was ready to collaborate at every stage and that visits to prospective member countries could facilitate the membership process, as was the case with Georgia recently.
At the end of the meeting, Mr Hasanov highlighted that membership to the IOC was part of his country’s vision, so he would do his best to speed up the process.
