91997E3383

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3383/97 by Riccardo Garosci (UPE), Livio Filippi (PPE), Giacomo Santini (UPE), Danilo Poggiolini (PPE), Antonio Trizza (NI), Monica Baldi (UPE) and Luisa Todini (UPE) to the Commission (23 October 1997)

Subject: Labelling of olive-oil and proposed IOOC amendment

Will the Commission make representations to the governing bodies of the IOOC (International Olive Oil Council) regarding the proposal to amend the rules on the labelling of olive-oil? When it holds its next meeting in Turkey on 18 November 1997, the international organization is apparently planning to change the definition of 'country of production' for labelling purposes.

In practice, under the new proposal, imported olive-oil, irrespective of its origin, could be called by the name of the importing country if it had merely been processed (for example filtered) there and a small percentage of oil produced in that country had been added to it.

This provision would obviously run counter to the idea of safeguards for consumers and olive-oil producers in the EU designed to guarantee clear information and a high standard of quality.

Joint answer to Written Questions E-3201/97 and E-3383/97 given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (17 November 1997)

It should first be stated that under the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC) commercial standard for olive oil and olive-residue oil, the practices to which the Honourable Members refer may confer the origin of the country where the processes of filtering and the addition of national olive oil are carried out on the resulting product.

It is precisely to avoid the repetition of such practices that the Commission asked the IOOC to look into the modification of this standard to, amongst other things, establish stricter and more transparent rules for conferring origin.

Modification of the IOOC commercial standard on the definition of the country of origin will be examined during the 77th session of the IOOC in Turkey from 17 to 21 November 1997.