Updated 9th June 2025
Here you can find the legislation and guidance for olive oil and olive-pomace oils.
EU legislation
- Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 (OJ L 347, p671, 20/12/2013) establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products. Annex VII of Part VIII to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 set outs the definitions and descriptions of olive oil and olive pomace oils.
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 (OJ L 284, p1, 04/11/2022) as regards marketing standards for olive oil. In particular, this regulation foresees rules on olive oil packaging and labelling (mandatory labelling and the use of optional reserved terms) and defines the specific characteristics applicable to each category.
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2105 (OJ L 284, p23, 04/11/2022) laying down rules on conformity checks of marketing standards for olive oil and methods of analysis of the characteristics of olive oil categories set in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104. To verify the characteristics, laboratories and tasting panels have to use specific methods of analysis. This regulation also defines control requirements for Member States control authorities.
Amended by
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2598 (OJ L, 2023/2598, 20/11/2023) of 11 September 2023 correcting the Slovenian language version of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards marketing standards for olive oil.
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1401 (OJ L, 2024/1401, 21/5/2024) of 7 March 2024 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Councils as regards marketing standards for olive oil.
National legislation
- European Communities (Marketing Standards) (Crops and oils) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No 378 of 2011)
Labelling of olive oils and olive-pomace oils
In addition to mandatory labelling requirements set out in the Food Information to Consumers (FIC) Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011), Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 lay down additional requirements regarding the labelling of olive oils and olive-pomace oils which are outlined below:
1. Descriptions and Definitions
Article 6 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 requires olive oils and olive-pomace oils to provide their legal name and category of oil on the label. The descriptions and definitions of olive oil and olive pomace oils are set out in Annex VII Part VIII of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.
The legal name of the oil and the following information on the category of oil must be provided on the label in clear and indelible marking:
(a) extra virgin olive oil: ‘superior category olive oil obtained directly from olives and solely by mechanical means;’
(b) virgin olive oil: ‘olive oil obtained directly from olives and solely by mechanical means;’
(c) olive oil composed of refined olive oils and virgin olive oils: ‘oil comprising exclusively olive oils that have undergone refining and oils obtained directly from olives;’
(d) olive-pomace oil: ‘oil comprising exclusively oils obtained by treating the product obtained after the extraction of olive oil and oils obtained directly from olives,’ or ‘oil comprising exclusively oils obtained by processing olive pomace oil and oils obtained directly from olives.’
2. Designations of origin
Article 8 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 sets our rules for the labelling of olive oils and olive pomace oils. Extra virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil as defined in points 1(a) and (b) of Annex VII Part VIII of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 must bear a designation of origin on the label, while products defined in point 3 (Olive oil-composed of refined olive oils and virgin olive oils) and point 6 (Olive-pomace oil) of the Annex must not bear any designation of origin on the labelling.
Designations of origin referred to above must only consist of:
(a) in the case of olive oils originating from one Member State or third country, a reference to the Member State, to the European Union or to the third country, as appropriate; or,
(b) in the case of blends of olive oils originating from more than one Member State or third country, one of the following mentions, as appropriate:
- (i) ‘blend of Community olive oils’ or a reference to the Community;
- (ii) ‘blend of non-Community olive oils’ or a reference to non-Community origin;
- (iii) ‘blend of Community and non-Community olive oils’ or a reference to Community and non-Community origin; or
(c) a protected designation of origin or a protected geographical indication referred to in Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 in accordance with the provisions of the product specification concerned.
If the olives have been harvested in a Member State or third country other than that in which the mill where the oil was extracted from the olives is situated, the designation of origin must contain the following wording: ‘(extra) virgin olive oil obtained in (the Community or the name of the Member State concerned) from olives harvested in (the Community or the name of the Member State or country concerned)’.
3. Voluntary information
Article 5 (3) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2022/2104 allows for voluntary information to be provided on the label of oils once they meet certain conditions of use The voluntary information must comply with the following requirements as outlined in article 10 optional reserved terms, article 11 indication of harvesting year and article 12 indication of the presence of olive oil outside of the list of ingredients in blends and foodstuffs of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2022/2104:
Optional reserved terms
(a) the indication ‘first cold pressing’ may appear only for extra virgin or virgin olive oils obtained at a temperature below 27 °C from a first mechanical pressing of the olive paste by a traditional extraction system using hydraulic presses;
(b) the indication ‘cold extraction’ may appear only for extra virgin or virgin olive oils obtained at a temperature below 27 °C by percolation or centrifugation of the olive paste;
(c) indications of organoleptic characteristics referring to taste and/or smell may appear only for extra virgin or virgin olive oils. Only the organoleptic characteristic as defined in Annex IX to Regulation (EU) 1308/2013 may appear on the label and only if they are based on an assessment carried out following the method referred to in Annex I, point 5, of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2105. The definitions and ranges of results, which allow for indication of these organoleptic characteristics, are set out in Annex II of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104.
(d) indication of the maximum acidity expected by the date of minimum durability referred to in Article 9(1)(f) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 may appear only if it is accompanied by an indication, in marking of the same size and in the same visual field, of the maximum values for peroxide, the wax content and the ultraviolet absorption, determined in accordance with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2105, expected by on the same date;
Indication of the harvesting year
Only extra virgin olive oil and virgin olive oil may indicate the harvesting year on the label. The harvesting year may be shown only if 100 % of the contents of the container come from that harvest. For the purposes of this point, the harvesting year shall be indicated on the label either in the form of the relevant marketing year in accordance with Article 6-point (f) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 or in the form of the month and the year of the harvest, in that order. The month shall correspond to the month of the extraction of the oil from the olives.
4. Legibility of labelling
Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 2022/2104 requires that the labelling of particulars referred to in Article 6 to 9 (legal name and labelling of category of oils, special storage conditions and place of Origin) shall be mandatory and, where applicable, those described in the first subparagraph of Article 4(1), shall be grouped together within the principal field of vision, as defined by Article 2(2)(l) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, either on the same label or on several labels attached to the same container, or directly on the same container. Those mandatory particulars must each be shown in full and in a homogeneous body of text.
5. Storage conditions
Article 7 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2022/2104 requires information on the special storage conditions for oils to be provided on the labels of extra virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil, olive oil and olive-pomace oil. The label must indicate that the oil must be stored away from light and heat.
Conformity checks for olive oil
Article 2 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2105 requires Member States to carry out conformity checks on olive oil to verify the implementation of the marketing standards laid down in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 on the basis of a risk analysis. The Implementing Regulation requires at least one conformity check per thousand tonnes of olive oil marketed in the Member State per year. The chemical, labelling and organoleptic checks should verify all of the elements listed in Annex I of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104. The results of these conformity checks must be reported to the European Commission annually.