Brussels, 17/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - The EU Management Committee gave its approval on Thursday 13 October to the Commission proposal that private storage for virgin olive oil be opened up to a maximum of 100,000 tonnes, subject to the conditions announced at the end of September (see EUROPE 10464). Voting on the first round of tenders is scheduled for 27 October 2011, with tenders to be submitted between 19 and 25 October.
The Commission took this step after virgin olive oil prices on the Spanish market fell below the level triggering aid for private storage. The storage period is six months.
Given what they describe as the “catastrophic” situation facing EU olive oil producers, Copa (Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations of the EU) and Cogeca (General Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives of the EU) said on Friday 14 October that they welcomed the EU Management Committee decision to open private storage aid for virgin olive oil, but regretted that lampante olive oil has not been included in the decision.
Copa-Cogeca Secretary General Pekka Pesonen said: “We have been calling for private storage aid for both virgin and lampante olive oil to be activated for some time, as this is the only instrument open to the sector which can improve the crisis market situation in the short term”. EU olive oil producers are “being squeezed” by low producer prices and high production costs.
Eurostat figures show olive oil is the only sector to have seen a fall in producer income in 2010 (5.7%) compared with 2009. Moreover, in 2009 olive oil producer incomes fell by 15.2% compared to 2008.
Copa-Cogeca argue that lampante oil prices “are following a similar downward trend in several producing countries, already below the reference price in Greece and Portugal”. As the markets for these two categories of olive oil are linked, any impact on the lampante oil sector would have a positive effect knock-on effect on the virgin olive oil market and therefore on the whole sector. Copa-Cogeca, therefore, calls on the Commission to reassess its position on private storage aid in relation to lampante oil in case the price of this continues to fall. (LC/transl.rt)