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Background to the EU olive-oil regime

20 May 2004

The EU system of support for olive oil is based on production aid
 of €1,322.5 per tonne, with private storage being used as an
 instrument of market management. Production is limited through national
 guaranteed quantities totalling 1.78 million tonnes. There is a
 growing emphasis on quality production. The budget for the olive
 oil sector in 2001 was €2,524 million, with €1,030 going
 to Spain, €848 million going to Italy, €587 million going
 to Greece, €54 million going to Portugal and €5 million
 going to France. Some 4% of the utilisable agricultural area of
 the EU is under olives, involving some 2.5 million producers, roughly
 a third of EU farmers. It also provides winter employment and considerable
 off farm employment in the processing industry.
The EU dominates world olive production, with output having risen
 steadily in the 1990s. Demand for olive oil is growing at 6% per
 annum in the light of the product's positive health image, and EU
 exports have doubled in the last ten years.