The Italian olive oil market is being put to the test because of the damage caused by adverse weather conditions, diseases, such as the Xylella bacterium, and adulteration with oils produced abroad. To combat the risks associated with these phenomena, the President of Coldiretti, Ettore Prandini, presented to the Ministry of Agriculture, Gian Marco Centinaio, the Plan SalvaOlio. Let’s see it in detail.«We also expect a strong defense of Italian production in Europe in the context of agricultural policy interventions so that the funds go to real olive companies – said Prandini – and in international negotiations where the Italian agribusiness is too often used as a currency of exchange for different interests».

The Coldiretti’s Oil-Saving Plan

The Oil-Saving Plan presented by Coldiretti provides a total of ten points. These are points that the Smet Group, which has always been active in the food transport sector, considers absolutely worthy of support. These are the points of the plan below:

1. launch a new National Olive Oil Plan to re-launch the sector with a national strategy and adequate investments, to modernize olive oil plants, focusing on national cultivars that represent our heritage of biodiversity, encouraging the development and signing of supply chain contracts;
2. ensure adequate resources to the National Solidarity Fund to deal with the serious disasters that have hit important areas of the country, such as Puglia, with the halving of national production of olive oil that has brought the sector to its knees;
3. express solidarity with olive growing in Salento compromised by xylella, supporting it with concrete actions starting from the immediate implementation of the Decree on the state of emergency in order to allow replanting, grafting and planning of the activities of mills and olive growers;
4. give greater transparency to the allocation of funding under the current CMO, so that the funds go to real olive oil companies and defend the Italian extra virgin in international negotiations where the Italian agri-food industry is too often used as a currency of exchange for different interests;
5. tighten the still wide mesh of the legislation with the approval of the proposals for the reform of food crimes presented by the special Commission chaired by Giancarlo Caselli;
6. demand the obligation of telematic registration of oils marketed in all Member States, as already established in Italy through the SIAN;
7. defend the Panel test, a necessary tool for classifying and assessing the organoleptic characteristics of virgin olive oils in order to protect quality oil producers and consumers;
8. promote greater transparency in the mandatory indication of origin on the label, for extra virgin olive oil (with labels legible for consumers and requiring the indication of the countries of origin of the oils that make up the “blends”) and for table olives that so far have no mandatory indication on the label in relation to the country of cultivation of the olives;
9. promote the knowledge and culture of quality olive oil among consumers in order to help them make more informed choices;
10. eliminate the state secret on import flows, also to verify the arrivals of products from countries that do not comply with similar rules to those in Italy regarding the use of chemicals or the protection of workers.