Spanish Farmers Urge Halt to Tunisian Olive Oil Imports Amid Traceability Concerns

The Spanish farmers’ union COAG is calling for the suspension of Tunisian olive oil imports due to traceability and market distortion concerns, with large volumes of oil entering the European market beyond the duty-free quota. COAG is urging authorities to ensure full traceability before resuming imports and is echoing similar calls in Italy, where concerns about falling prices and potential fraud linked to Tunisia’s olive oil exports have been raised. The Spanish farmers’ union, COAG, has called on Spanish and EU authorities to immediately suspend imports of Tunisian olive oil, citing serious concerns about traceability and market distortions. In a recent notice, COAG warned that insufficient controls are allowing large volumes of so-called ​“ghost” Tunisian olive oil to enter the European market far beyond the 56,700-ton duty-free quota. “We have a duty-free quota of 57,000 tons, yet of the 200,000 tons entering the E.U., almost 100,000 come to Spain and are systematically used ...