WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1612/97 by José VALVERDE LÓPEZ to the Commission. Olive oil and cooperation agreements with Tunisia and Morocco
10. 2. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 45/59 (98/C 45/70) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1611/97 by Jose· Valverde Lo·pez (PPE) to the Commission (7 May 1997) Subject: Olive oil imports from non-member countries Can the Commission say how much olive oil is imported from non-member countries, indicating the amount from each country and the average entry price at European Union frontiers? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (16 June 1997) The Honourable Member will find below a table showing figures for olive and olive-oil residue oil imports from the principal exporting non-member countries during the last five years. The Commission does not have the data to calculate the average entry price. However, commercial logic would require this price, after deduction of any applicable customs duty, normally to be lower than the Community price. Exporting country 1992 1993 Tonnes 1994 › 1 24 282 › › 3 168 050 2 185 829 1995 1996 250 1 13 4 985 › › 1 733 114 378 41 376 1 393 1 203 485 1 070 13 662 408 2 515 3 580 36 403 16 230 310 › 5 27 1 375 523 › › 89 429 522 421 6 22 33 678 › › › 94 435 122 420 Albania Egypt Lebanon Morocco Senegal Slovenia Syria Tunisia Turkey Others Total 92 300 95 716 171 374 164 128 75 865 Source: Eurostat (Comext). Comprises imports under licence and inward processing operations. (98/C 45/71) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1612/97 by Jose· Valverde Lo·pez (PPE) to the Commission (7 May 1997) Subject: Olive oil and cooperation agreements with Tunisia and Morocco Can the Commission give details of any commitments to import olive oil included in the cooperation agreements with Tunisia and Morocco? What is likely to be the economic impact on the EUís olive oil producers? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (4 July 1997) Under the terms of the cooperation agreement signed in Tunis on 25 April 1976 and subsequent protocols, imports of olive oil originating in that country benefit from a reduced duty (ECU 7. 80 per 100 kilograms) in the framework of a tariff quota of 46 000 tonnes. This concession was renewed under the association agreement signed in Brussels on 17 July 1995, which is now in the process of ratification. In addition, and apart from this quota, Community legislation provides for tariff reductions for imports of olive oil originating in Morocco and Tunisia