Answer given by Mr Hahn on behalf of the European Commission

11.6.2019

The Commission is aware of these allegations but at this stage is not in a position to verify all necessary details on the ground. There is no investigation at this point. The Commission continues to carefully follow developments in this regard.

The trade regime that applies to agricultural products from Turkey is established by Decision 1/98 of the EU-Turkey Association Council of 25 February 1998[1] and the relevant protocols. The Commission monitors the application of the decision to ensure its proper application.

According to the bilateral trade agreement for agricultural products between Turkey and the EU, to benefit from the preferential market access conditions foreseen therein, olive oil exported from Turkey must comply with the provisions set out in the bilateral protocol on rules of origin. In relation to olive oil, the rule requires that the olives be wholly obtained (i.e. harvested) in Turkey.

The Member States’ customs authorities are in charge of verifying the origin of imported goods. If an EU customs authority has doubts about the Turkish origin of the imported olive oil, it shall contact the Turkish customs authority for verification, in accordance with the rules laid down in the EU-Turkey Agreement on agricultural trade.

In case the Commission should receive an allegation from a Member State of recurrent fraudulent cases to the rules, the Commission can decide to enquire further on the issue.

• [1] 98/223/EC.