`European Table Olive Groups Push Back on EU-Mercosur Tariff Terms - Olive Oil Times
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European Table Olive Groups Push Back on EU-Mercosur Tariff Terms

By Costas Vasilopoulos
Feb. 6, 2026 15:54 UTC
Summary Summary

Three asso­ci­a­tions of table olive man­u­fac­tur­ers and exporters from Europe are against a pro­vi­sion in the E.U.-Mercosur free trade agree­ment that would elim­i­nate import tar­iffs for Mercosur table olives enter­ing the E.U., argu­ing that it cre­ates an unfair com­pet­i­tive advan­tage. The agree­ment between the E.U. and Mercosur coun­tries, focus­ing on reduc­ing import duties, has faced polit­i­cal oppo­si­tion, with E.U. law­mak­ers vot­ing to delay it.

Three asso­ci­a­tions of table olive man­u­fac­tur­ers and exporters from Europe’s main pro­duc­ing coun­tries have jointly rejected a pro­vi­sion in the E.U.-Mercosur free trade agree­ment that would elim­i­nate import tar­iffs for Mercosur table olives enter­ing the European Union.

The newly struck pact between the European Union and Mercosur coun­tries (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay) focuses on grad­u­ally waiv­ing import duties between the two blocs. The agree­ment has already faced polit­i­cal head­winds after E.U. law­mak­ers nar­rowly voted to delay it.

Under the accord, both sides would grad­u­ally reduce or elim­i­nate import duties on 91 to 95 per­cent of exports over 15 years. For table olives, the deal stip­u­lates that the exist­ing 12.8 per­cent import levy on table olives from Mercosur into the E.U. would be phased out over seven years.

Exports of table olives from E.U. coun­tries to Mercosur mar­kets, by con­trast, cur­rently face a tar­iff of around 12.6 per­cent that is not sched­uled for removal or reduc­tion under the terms of the agree­ment.

The tar­iff scheme for European table olives was retained after Argentina, a sig­nif­i­cant table olive pro­ducer in Latin America, requested that table olives be clas­si­fied as a ​“sen­si­tive” agri­cul­tural prod­uct, thereby keep­ing European olives sub­ject to import duties in Mercosur coun­tries.

The asso­ci­a­tions — Asemesa from Spain, Assom from Italy and Pemete from Greece — said the tar­iff asym­me­try poses a direct threat to healthy com­pe­ti­tion and lim­its the export poten­tial of European table olives to key mar­kets.

In a writ­ten state­ment, Asemesa denounced ​“the absolute lack of sen­si­tiv­ity of the European Commission towards the table olive sec­tor,” argu­ing that the E.U.-Mercosur terms cre­ate an ​“unac­cept­able com­pet­i­tive imbal­ance” against European table olives, accord­ing to the association’s pub­lished response.

In Greece, Pemete head Kostas Zoukas said Mercosur mar­kets could help off­set poten­tial losses for Greek table olives in other des­ti­na­tions such as the United States, where new duties have com­pli­cated trade for European olive prod­ucts, includ­ing 15 per­cent tar­iffs on olive oil exports to the U.S.

“We were count­ing on the [E.U.-Mercosur] agree­ment to cover the losses we expect to have in the U.S. mar­ket this year, but this is not going to hap­pen,” Zoukas said. ​“Things will con­tinue to look ugly.”

The three European asso­ci­a­tions also said the tar­iff asym­me­try is par­tic­u­larly con­cern­ing in strate­gic mar­kets such as Brazil, one of the largest con­sumers of table olives world­wide.

Brazil, the largest and most pop­u­lous coun­try in Latin America, is a sig­nif­i­cant importer and con­sumer of table olives, import­ing more than 100,000 tons annu­ally, mainly from Argentina, Peru and Egypt.

While the Brazilian mar­ket is dom­i­nated by non-European sup­pli­ers, a tar­iff-free trade scheme for table olives from the E.U. could cre­ate new oppor­tu­ni­ties for European exporters. Zoukas said Greek exporters had been aim­ing to ship up to 20,000 tons to Mercosur coun­tries once the deal came into effect, pro­vided that tar­iffs were waived.

The asso­ci­a­tions warned that the cur­rent tra­jec­tory jeop­ar­dizes the via­bil­ity of the indus­try, the prof­itabil­ity of Europe’s agri­cul­tural hold­ings and the eco­nomic and social cohe­sion of large rural areas in the E.U.

They called on the European Commission and E.U. mem­ber states to reex­am­ine the deal’s table olive pro­vi­sions to avoid dam­ag­ing what they described as a strate­gic sec­tor for the European econ­omy and a key com­po­nent of regional import/export activ­ity.

The asso­ci­a­tions also said they are final­iz­ing the cre­ation of a new pan-European asso­ci­a­tion for table olives, aimed at rein­forc­ing dia­logue with E.U. insti­tu­tions and pro­tect­ing their com­mon inter­ests as olive exporters.

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