Brussels, 17/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 17 September, the European Commission adopted a legislative proposal offering temporary additional access for Tunisian olive oil to the EU market. The legislation (a regulation) now needs to be adopted by the Council and European Parliament.
The Commission proposes to offer a unilateral duty-free tariff rate quota of 35,000 tonnes for Tunisian olive oil exports until the end of 2017. This is in addition to the existing 56,700 tonnes (also granted duty-free) under the EU-Tunisia association agreement.
The offer fulfils a pledge made to Tunisia as part of the “commitment to support Tunisia's government and its citizens, to deepen the relationship between the EU and Tunisia, and to protect Tunisia's economy following the recent terrorist attacks”, the Commission states in a press release. In the opinion of High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, “exceptional times call for exceptional measures”.
The Commission does not expect any risk of disruption to the EU market. This temporary exceptional offer in reality responds to strong demand, against a background of reduced production in Europe. At its 24th session (16-19 June 2015), the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC) noted that world production of olive oil for the 2014-15 marketing year decreased by around 29% compared with the previous year, mainly due to the adverse climate conditions - especially in European countries. Spain recorded the biggest decrease (-946,500 tonnes, or -53%), followed by Italy (-239,200 t, or -52%), Portugal (-30,000 t, or -27%), France (-3,400 t, or -69%) and Croatia (-1,800 t, or -36%). By contrast, Greece experienced a 168,000 t increase in its production (+127%), and Cyprus a 1,000 t increase in its production (+17%). “The production of other IOOC members has increased in total by 16%, due especially to the good harvests in Tunisia”(which recorded its second best marketing year with 280,000 t, or 210,000 more (+300%) than the previous harvest) and in Turkey, where production increased by
25,000 t (+19%). (Fathi B'Chir)