States meeting in Geneva today adopted a new agreement that will regulate the olive oil and table olive market until 31 December 2014. The previous agreement needed to be updated in order to keep abreast of changes in the market, said Alexander Tilgencamp (Netherlands), President of the International Olive Council, at the start of the UNCTAD-sponsored meeting.
Millions of families depend on the olive industry and olive oil for their very survival, and table olives have long been a staple of the Mediterranean diet.
Two sorts of changes have taken place since the signing of the 1986 agreement, which was extended following amendments made in late 2005. First, technological developments have had a profound effect on olive-growing and -processing techniques. Second, demand has skyrocketed, thanks largely to a major promotional campaign focusing in particular on the health benefits of olive oil. Japanese and US imports of olive oil rose by 742% and 517% respectively between the 1983/1984 and 2003/2004 crop years.
The new agreement, entitled the International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives, 2005 (see TD/OLIVE OIL.10/6), provides international protection for the geographical indications agreed on by members, thereby filling a gap in the previous text. It also puts relationships with professionals on an institutional footing and provides for international cooperation with representatives of the olive-products sector. Environmental protection is strengthened. Moreover, the Council is given the task of organizing the transfer of technology from members that are highly advanced in olive cultivation, olive oil extraction and table olive processing techniques to the developing countries that are members of the Council. The new text is also aimed at improving the quality of the sector´s products and is intended to back up the advertising campaigns on the properties and benefits of olive oil and table olives -- that is, their organoleptic and chemical characteristics and their nutritional and therapeutic properties.
The 2005 Agreement also introduces changes in its implementation. In particular, where consensus cannot be reached, decisions are to be taken by a qualified majority of at least 50% of the members accounting for 82% of the participation shares. These shares are calculated each year on the basis of average production and average exports in the six previous olive crop years.
The UNCTAD-sponsored United Nations Conference for the Negotiation of a Successor Agreement to the International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives, 1986, as Amended and Extended, 1993, brought together this week in Geneva the representatives of 19 UN Member States plus representatives of the European Community acting on behalf of its 25 member States (see press release UNCTAD/PRESS/PR/2005/14 of 22 April 2005).
The agreements on olive oil and table olives will be administered by the International Olive Council, set up for this purpose in 1959 in Madrid, Spain, where the Council has been based ever since. The 2005 Agreement adopted today will be deposited with the Government of Spain.
François Roux (Belgium) served as President, and Samir Labidi (Tunisia) as Vice-President.
Role of UNCTAD
One of UNCTAD´s main tasks in the field of commodities is to facilitate cooperation between producers and consumers of commodities and to support the work of international commodity bodies. Its mandate in this area was recently strengthened by the São Paulo Consensus adopted at UNCTAD XI (13-18 June 2004), which calls on UNCTAD to continue to "help to build effective partnerships among relevant stakeholders aiming at viable solutions and sustainable approaches to commodity problems". The São Paulo conference also set up an independent international task force on commodities, one of whose main tasks will be to review the contribution of international commodity agreements to international trade in commodities.
