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Photo: De la Sierra
Uruguay has become the second South American country to join the International Olive Council (IOC).
The IOC announced the new membership in a brief statement this week marking the event.
It said that before joining, the country had obtained first-hand experience of the workings of the IOC by attending various of its sessions as an observer.
“The Government of Uruguay filed its instrument of accession to the International Agreement on Olive Oil and Table Olives, 2005, on 30 July 2013. The accession was officially notified on 20 August by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain, which is the depositary of the Agreement.”
The IOC said it hoped to see other olive producing nations follow soon in Uruguay’s tracks.
Representatives of the governments of Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay participated as observers in IOC meetings held in Buenos Aires in July, 2012 and “expressed interested in IOC activities,” with Uruguay then starting the process of joining the IOC, and Chile expressing particularly strong interest, the IOC said in a press release at the time.
Argentina became an IOC member in 2009.