International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives (2015)

PURPOSE: to conclude the International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives, 2015.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

CONTENT: on 19 November 2013, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations on behalf of the Union in order to conclude a new international agreement on olive oil and table olives.

The text of the agreement was adopted on 9 October 2015 by the representatives of 24 Member States of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and two intergovernmental organisations during the United Nations Conference for the Negotiation of a Successor Agreement to the International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives, 2005.

In accordance with Council Decision (EU) 2016/1892, the Agreement was signed on behalf of the Union on 28 November 2016 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, subject to its conclusion at a later date.

The Agreement entered into force provisionally on 1 January 2017.

It is now necessary for the Agreement to be approved.

CONTENT: the Council calls for the approval, on behalf of the Union, of the International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives, 2015.

The Agreement establishes a decision-making body, called the ‘Council of Members’, which exercises all powers and performs all the functions necessary to achieve the objectives of the Agreement. The Commission should be authorised to represent the Union in the Council of Members.

In order to facilitate the adoption of amendments to the Agreement such as those regarding the designations and definitions of oils, olive pomace oils and table olives as set out in annexes B and C of the Agreement, the Commission should be authorised to approve proposed amendments on behalf of the Union, under specific substantive and procedural conditions.