The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) has been operating from October 1, the computerized system in which the movements of olive oils and olive-pomace in bulk must be compulsorily recorded, as set out in the regulation of quality for these products approved by the Council of Ministers on August 31.
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The new quality standard for olive oil and olive pomace establishes the obligation that bulk oil movements be covered by an accompanying document, and an analysis bulletin that guarantees the declared category.
The computer application is available on the website of the Food Information and Control Agency (AICA), https://www.aica.gob.es/. Through it, prior and mandatory notification of any movement of olive oil and pomace in bulk can be made, and the accompanying document that must be carried throughout the journey can be generated.
Likewise, and according to the standard, internal movements between oil mills, refineries and pomace oil extractors of the same installation must be recorded through this computerized system, through a separate menu option by filling in section A of Annex II referring to the Identification of the product.
The computerized system is supported by the Olive Market Information System, established by Royal Decree 861/2018, which establishes the basic regulations regarding mandatory declarations of the olive oil and table olives sectors for the purposes of of the registry of facilities required to register movements as holders of the product, but through an independent module.
In addition, to control the traceability of movements, the olive sector will have a specific national control plan, coordinated by MAPA and managed by the competent authorities of the autonomous communities. This is a reinforcement of official control throughout the sector that will lead to more guarantees for the consumer.
In this way, a traceability and control system that does not exist in any other country in the world is put into operation, placing Spanish sector at the forefront of the quality requirements of olive oil. ■