The IOC and the Diputación de Jaén to host an international conference

The IOC has a packed schedule for the 116th session of the Council of Members and World Olive Day, organised in collaboration with the Diputación de Jaén.

This includes an international conference on the olive sector and sustainability, quality and health. The conference will be held at IFEJA, Jaén from 9.30am to 2pm (UTC+1) on 1 December 2022. To follow online, click on the link below:

https://olyusei.zoom.us/j/82041588861/

Executive Director Abdellatif Ghedira will open the event alongside Francisco Reyes, the President of the Diputación de Jaén, and Julio Millán, Mayor of Jaén, this year’s hosts of the plenary session. Next on the podium will be Khalid Al-Hanifat, Chair of the IOC and Minister of Agriculture of Jordan.

Pierre Bascou, Director for Sustainability and Income Support at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, will give a presentation on how the EU is promoting a more sustainable olive sector.

Marcos Nájera Sánchez, from the Sub-Directorate General for Food Quality and Sustainability of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, will present Spain’s new quality standards for olive oil.

Juan Bautista Barroso, Director of the University Institute of Olive Research at the University of Jaén (UJA), will present the joint UJA and IOC website on sustainability.

Roberto García Ruiz, Head of the Ecology Unit at INUO-UJA, will talk about sustainability and the Mediterranean olive grove, while José Eugenio Gutiérrez Ureña, from SEO BirdLife, will outline the objectives of the Olivares Vivos project, a model of olive growing and biodiversity.

Kamel Gargouri, Director of the Olive Tree Institute (Tunisia), will then speak about good practices for managing olive groves sustainably in the face of climate change, and Salvador Ruiz Plaza will discuss harmonising olive oil tasting panels.

The final part of the conference will be devoted to olive oil and health. Fernando Lopez Segura will present the CORDIPREV study, and José J. Gaforio, Head of the Health Unit at INUO-UJA, will discuss the effects of extra virgin olive oil on metabolism and the immune system as well as on gut microbiota compared to other edible oils.

Ali Haj Mbarek, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Olive Oil and Table Olives, will close the event with a presentation on the history of this key partner of the Council of Members. Created just 30 years ago, the Committee provides a forum for olive companies to express their views and share their practical knowledge to help the Executive Secretariat identify effective solutions to the sector’s problems.

Media contact: iooc@interationaloliveoil.org