The Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Miguel Arias Cañete, met with representatives of the Interprofesional del Aceite de Oliva Español (Interprofessional) as part of the round of contacts initiated by the Government with various economic and social agents of the primary sector.
Competition rules, the supply chain structure, the promotion of olive oil and the demands of the activation of a new private olive oil storage were some of the issues discussed at the meeting yesterday in Madrid.
Described by Pedro Barato, President of the Spanish Olive Oil Interprofessional, as “very productive,” it was the first meeting between the executive members of the organization with the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment. The organization took the opportunity to present Cañete with a report of the promotional work done in the past three years, since its creation.
Barato said the minister “has very highly valued the cohesion of the olive oil sector and the Interprofessional’s work that has been done to this point.”
During the meeting, the Interprofessional also detalied the strategic plan on which they are working right now and outlined the main priorities for the next three years.
Cañete asked for the Interprofessional’s collaboration in this new phase that the Ministry will face. Barato said “We agreed with the Minister to contribute in the first draft of the constitution of a law on measures to improve the functioning of the food chain that the minister is driving right now.”
“But perhaps the most important scoop is the commitment of Arias Cañete for his full support in the Interprofessional’s tasks,” Barato said.
The meeting also approached the adequacy of competition rules to the reality of the spanish agribusiness sector, with a high protegonism of the Spanish olive oil.
Miguel Arias Cañete insisted in the need of concerted efforts to promote the Spain brand worldwide, a task in which the Interprofessional has made a considerable effort in recent years.
Although Pedro Barato didn’t reveal any details, he did explain that the organization will give special importance to the promotion in countries that have worked well in imports, such as Mexico, USA and China, while they will also strengthen efforts to consolidate European Union initiatives.
Mercacei articles also appear in Mercacei magazine and are not edited by Olive Oil Times.
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