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The International Olive Council (IOC) held the 23rd extraordinary session of its Council of Members on February 4 and 5.
The outcome of the meeting included the adoption of several decisions related to the IOC standard for olive oils and pomace oils and the Codex standard, as well as revisions to its testing methods.
The Council also adopted three reports for the upcoming meeting of the Codex Committee on Fats and Oils in Malaysia.
In other developments, the Council agreed to IOC’s participation in the upcoming Climolive project which aims to consolidate the 22 olive germplasm banks in IOC’s network, providing an international reference for the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources. The project has been presented to the European Commission for funding.
Also discussed were arrangements for an upcoming promotion campaign in Japan following an exploratory meeting in Tokyo last month; upcoming deadlines for grant applications for technical assistance activities, national promotion activities and nominations for candidates for upcoming seminars and training courses; and the resumption of talks on the future of the IOC by the European Union in May.
Present at the meeting were representatives from Albania, Algeria, Argentina, the European Union, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Uruguay, (with Uruguay also representing Montenegro in its absence).