The acting Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has reiterated his "unquestionable" commitment to the olive sector, during his speech at the closing of the technical day of the olive grove organized by the Agricultural Association Young Farmers (ASAJA) Córdoba , in Priego de Córdoba.
The minister has acknowledged that the sector faces important challenges that affect the sector such as additional tariffs imposed by the United States, a possible brexit without agreement or the situation of low prices in olive oil.
He has shown the firm commitment of the Ministry to support the sector to ensure its viability and profitability. Planas has detailed the work agenda that has been set in motion by the Government of Spain to support this sector, a crop with a strong social implication for the generation of employment and the areas where it is grown and which constitutes, above all, the Traditional olive grove, a brake against depopulation.
The minister has explained the support measures that this Government has implemented, such as the achievement of the European Comission has approved the regulations for the execution of the private storage of olive oil, "strongly claimed by Spain" to the community authorities and that it will "guarantee" price stability in the market and better profitability for all links in the chain .
Private storage will help maintain and raise prices
He pointed out that this week has been very important for the sector, in reference to the fact that last Monday, day 11, it was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (DOUE) on Regulation to initiate tender procedures. As of the end of this month (November 21) the first period of the four tenders that will be launched and that will help to "maintain and raise" the prices of the three categories: extra virgin, virgin and lampante are started included in this community decision.
He recalled the Ministry's technical and institutional support for the Agro-Food Cooperatives initiative so that in Spain a self-regulation measure can be applied to balance prices.
The improvement of the quality and traceability of olive oil, through a new quality standard to "guarantee and intensify" mechanisms to combat fraud in the sector, is another of the lines of work undertaken by the Ministry.
Planas, who has remarked that Spain is a world leader in the production and export of olive oil and table olives, has stressed that new markets must continue to open and diversify destinations. Also in this case, the Government supports the promotion and internationalization.
It has also assessed that the Denomination of Origin Priego de Córdoba is among the hundred community mentions protected against imitation and usurpation, included in the recent agreement between the European Union and China.