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Olive Oil

Here you can find the legislation and guidance for olive oil and olive-pomace oils.

EU legislation

Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2568/91 (OJ L 248 5.9.1991, p. 1) of 11 July 1991 on the characteristics of olive oil and olive-residue oil and on the relevant methods of analysis.

Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 347, p371, 20/12/2013) of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products

        Consolidated version of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 as at 1st January 2023

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 29/2012 (no longer in force) (OJ L 12, p14, 14/01/2011) of 13 January 2012 on marketing standards for olive oil

Amended by

           Consolidated version of Regulation (EU) No 29/2012 (no longer in force) as at 06th February 2019

Regulation (EU) No 29/2012 (no longer in force) lays down marketing standards for the retail-stage marketing of olive oils and olive-pomace oils.

Annex VII of Part VIII to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 set outs the definitions and descriptions of olive oil and olive pomace oils.

Regulation (ECC) No 2568/91 (no longer in force) requires EU Member States to carry out conformity checks to verify that olive oil and olive residue oil marketed in Member States is consistent with the category declared.

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 general labelling rules (Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011), Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and Regulation (EU) No 29/2012 (no longer in force) lay down set out additional requirements regarding the labelling of olive oils and olive-pomace oils which are outlined below: 

   1. Descriptions and Definitions

Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 29/2012 requires that the labelling of olive oils and olive-pomace oils must bear, in clear and indelible lettering, in addition to the sales description (as set out in Annex VII Part VIII of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013), but not necessarily close to it, the following information on the category of oil:

(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

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 labelling, while products defined in point 3 (Olive oil-composed of refined olive oils and virgin olive oils) and point 6 (Olive-pomace oil) of this 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) No 1151/2012, 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. Other information required on labelling

There are a number of optional indications that may appear on the labelling of oil, as referred to in Article 1(1) of Regulation (EU) No 29/2012 (no longer in force). These optional indications must comply with the following requirements as outlined in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 29/2012;

(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 properties referring to taste and/or smell may appear only for extra virgin or virgin olive oils; the terms referred to in point 3.3 of Annex XII to Regulation (EEC) No 2568/91 may appear on the labelling only if they are based on the results of an assessment carried out following the method provided for in that Annex;

(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 lettering of the same size and in the same visual field, of the peroxide value, the wax content and the ultraviolet absorption, determined in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 2568/91, expected on the same date;

(e) regarding oils subject to point 1(a) and (b) of Part VIII of Annex VII to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, 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(c)(iii) 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 4(b) of Regulation (EU) No 29/2012 (no longer in force) requires that the mandatory particulars described in the first paragraph of Article 3 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 4(a) of Regulation (EU) No 29/2012 (no longer in force) requires information on the special preservation conditions for oils subject to Article 1(1) of Regulation (EU) No 29/2012 (no longer in force), namely that they must be stored away from light and heat, shall appear on their containers or on labels attached to them.

Conformity checks for olive oil

Article 2a(4) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2568/91 as amended on the characteristics of olive oil and olive-residue oil and on the methods of analysis (no longer in force) requires EU Member States to carry out conformity checks to verify that olive oil and olive residue oil marketed in Member States is consistent with the category declared. The legislation 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 XXI of Regulation (EEC) No 2568/91. Annex I of Regulation (EEC) No 2568/91 outlines the chemical parameters and organoleptic characteristics that olive oil and olive-residue oils must meet. The results of these conformity checks must be reported to the European Commission annually.