Olive oil controls are lacking, says European Court of Auditors

By: Trademagazin Date: 2026. 01. 15. 11:14

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The safety and traceability of European olive oil may be at risk due to shortcomings in the EU’s control systems, the European Court of Auditors wrote in a statement sent to MTI on Tuesday.

According to the organization’s report, member state controls generally function properly, detecting pesticide residues, but are less developed with regard to other contaminants, and many regulations are not clear enough, such as those regarding the mixing of products.

According to the statement, olive oil is one of the EU’s priority products, with a 65 percent share, the community is the main exporter of the world market. That is why it is vital that the reputation of European olive oil is not tarnished, and that consumers can trust that extra virgin and other olive oil categories meet high-level marketing standards.

– they pointed out.

They also mentioned imports, which account for 9 percent of EU production, because – as they wrote – this is also poorly supervised. In the Member States examined, many contaminants were rarely or not checked at all in imports from non-EU countries.

The European Court of Auditors complained that cross-border monitoring was difficult and that there were no comprehensive rules and guidelines. Due to these shortcomings, the European Commission also has only partial knowledge of the functioning of national control systems.

The report on olive oil control systems can be read on the Court’s website at www.eca.europa.eu/hu.