Copa and Cogeca welcome the Commission’s decision to activate private storage for olive oil; a measure that they had been requesting since February. Nevertheless, Copa and Cogeca consider that the Commission needs to improve the way in which it is implemented.

Private storage must, as it did in 2001, cover a one year period with regular revisions every 2 months in order to grant operators flexibility. Furthermore, private storage is expected to be implemented before the end of June. At present, the price level is so low that production is
hardly viable, or even not at all, in producer regions.

In the words of Pekka Pesonen, Secretary General of Copa-Cogeca, “production prices are below the level for activating private storage set out in the Single CMO. If you consider that these prices have not been updated for ten years, it soon becomes apparent that the situation is truly catastrophic. This is why we are also requesting an update in the prices for activating private
storage.”

Copa and Cogeca believe that the nature of private storage is transitional and it is not enough to guarantee a decent income for producers. Other measures such as concentrating production and improving promotion must also be put in place.

http://www.copa-cogeca.eu/Download.ashx?ID=518366&fmt=pdf

For further information, please contact:
Eva Corral
Policy Advisor
Tel.: +32 2 287 27 70
eva.corral@copa-cogeca.eu
Simon Michel-Berger
Press Officer
Mobile: + 32 474 840 836
simon.michel-berger@copa-cogeca.eu