Ne Italy will also definitely benefit from new anti-fraud measures introduced by Spain along the entire olive oil supply chain, including pomace. A decisive change of pace in controls, that of the Iberian country, which aims to give greater guarantees for consumers, but above all a safeguard the reputation of your flagship productThis comes after a heated national debate on the alleged clandestine operations in the olive oil market, triggered by accusations made in December 2024 by Dcoop, a cooperative representing thousands of producers. This debate has been further amplified by persistent concerns about traceability across the industry, particularly against the risk of scams for oil from North Africa, Tunisia in particular, allocating it to both the domestic and international markets.
And here lies Italy's advantage, as mentioned above, given that we are among the countries that purchase massive quantities. An advantage that can be applied to three aspects:
- certainty of origin and therefore the purchase of EU oil rather than non-EU oil;
- certainty about the typology, and therefore whether it is extra virgin, virgin or lampante;
- certainty – or at least greater certainty – for internal controls in our country, so that this oil remains fully Spanish even when it lands in Italy, escaping attempts to magically transform it into 100% Italian.
Most of the measures, announced by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, will come into force this year and are the result of a broad proposal presented to the government by the Spanish olive oil sector in recent months.
Under the new regulatory framework, At least 20% of operators in the olive oil sector will be subjected to official quality controls every year, confirming and strengthening the existing inspection thresholds. While the specific controls will focus on olive oil producers, inspections will extend to the entire supply chain, including marketing services, retailers and border controls.
One of the main objectives of the plan is to identify critical risk points in manufacturing and marketing where misrepresentation, non-compliance, or fraud is most likely to occur.
The initiative is in line with Spain's National Food Chain Control Plan, which formally runs from 2026 to 2030 and operates within the broader European Union food control framework.
