`Jordan Expands Tunisian Olive Oil Imports as Drought Squeezes Local Supply - Olive Oil Times
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Jordan Expands Tunisian Olive Oil Imports as Drought Squeezes Local Supply

By Paolo DeAndreis
Feb. 4, 2026 16:19 UTC
Summary Summary

Jordan has approved imports of 10,000 tons of Tunisian olive oil to address low local pro­duc­tion and sta­bi­lize prices, with new mea­sures in place to reg­u­late qual­ity and dis­tri­b­u­tion. The move is part of efforts to expand trade rela­tions between the two coun­tries, with Tunisia aim­ing to diver­sify exports and estab­lish new part­ner­ships to boost its olive oil indus­try.

The vol­ume of Tunisian olive oil ship­ments to Jordan is poised to rise sharply, sig­nal­ing a new phase in trade rela­tions between the two coun­tries.

After issu­ing an ini­tial autho­riza­tion for 3,000 tons last November, Jordan’s Ministry of Agriculture has now approved imports total­ing 10,000 tons.

More ship­ments are expected in the com­ing weeks as offi­cials seek to increase avail­abil­ity on the local mar­ket and sta­bi­lize prices. Jordanian pro­duc­ers are fac­ing very low out­put after the long-last­ing impacts of drought, even as olive oil remains a sta­ple in house­hold kitchens. Government data show this season’s pro­duc­tion is well below the 2012 – 2025 annual aver­age of 25,000 tons, mak­ing Tunisia the lead­ing for­eign sup­plier.

Jordanian author­i­ties have also announced new mea­sures to gov­ern imports, with a focus on main­tain­ing qual­ity through­out ship­ping and upon arrival in the coun­try. Mohammad Hayari, the sec­re­tary-gen­eral of the agri­cul­ture min­istry, said import licenses will be issued in accor­dance with defined pro­ce­dures.

Priority will be given to pub­lic con­sumer cor­po­ra­tions, sec­toral asso­ci­a­tions, and farm­ers’ orga­ni­za­tions, as well as to pri­vate com­pa­nies that meet all reg­u­la­tory require­ments. Hayari said appli­ca­tions will be reviewed through an elec­tronic sys­tem using trans­par­ent cri­te­ria, with eli­gi­bil­ity lim­ited to offi­cially reg­is­tered busi­nesses in good stand­ing.

Packaging rules will also apply. The min­istry said imported olive oil must be sold in con­tain­ers of no more than four kilo­grams, a require­ment intended to reg­u­late retail dis­tri­b­u­tion and curb price spec­u­la­tion. An excep­tion allows the Syndicate of Olive Press Owners to import con­tain­ers up to eight kilo­grams, reflect­ing its role in pro­cess­ing and bulk han­dling across the import and dis­tri­b­u­tion chain.

On January 12, the first ship­ment of Tunisian olive oil arrived in Jordan under the man­age­ment of the Civil Service Consumers Corporation (CSCC), a gov­ern­ment-run retailer with dozens of out­lets nation­wide.

CSCC is tasked with sta­bi­liz­ing the mar­ket when sup­plies tighten, rely­ing on con­trolled imports and fixed pric­ing. For the ini­tial imported batch, the retailer set a price of JD 4.2 per liter (about €5.01), under­cut­ting pre­vail­ing local prices by 10 to 20 per­cent. Officials said the move is also meant to pres­sure domes­tic oil retail­ers to adjust their prices.

The imported oil is being released only after lab­o­ra­tory and sen­sory test­ing. Since the first import autho­riza­tion was announced, Jordanian offi­cials have said they will strictly mon­i­tor the qual­ity of incom­ing ship­ments.

Beyond ship­ments, Jordan and Tunisia are also expand­ing coop­er­a­tion through new part­ner­ships, includ­ing joint olive oil pro­mo­tion ini­tia­tives. Manufacturing, com­merce and cross-bor­der invest­ment have been high­lighted as pri­or­i­ties. Trade between the two coun­tries rose by 6.5 per­cent in 2025 to TND 150 mil­lion (about €44 mil­lion).

Tunisia’s ambas­sador to Jordan, Moufida Zribi, said con­tacts with pub­lic and pri­vate stake­hold­ers have increased in recent months and helped lay the ground­work for exports expected to con­tinue through the entire 2025/26 cam­paign. She added that more than 40 Jordanian importers have vis­ited Tunisian pro­duc­tion sites since November 2025, accom­pa­nied by offi­cials from the Tunisian export agency Cepex.

For Tunisia, one of the world’s largest pro­duc­ers, the new agree­ments accel­er­ate efforts to diver­sify exports. In addi­tion to mem­ber­ship in the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA), Tunisia has signed the Agadir Agreement with Jordan, Egypt and Morocco to estab­lish a duty-free trade area. Other regional agree­ments, includ­ing one recently signed with the United Arab Emirates, explic­itly ref­er­ence olive oil trade.

The diver­si­fi­ca­tion push has become more promi­nent as Tunisian offi­cials expand over­seas com­mer­cial ties, par­tic­u­larly after the coun­try was hit by U.S. tar­iffs.

While trade with the European Union remains vital, Tunisian olive oil exports to the bloc are fac­ing a more chal­leng­ing envi­ron­ment.

Tunisia’s over­all olive oil out­put this sea­son is now expected to reach 500,000 tons, a vol­ume that would make it the world’s sec­ond-largest pro­ducer after Spain. Rising pro­duc­tion fore­casts are also dri­ving efforts to open new trade cor­ri­dors for the sta­ple prod­uct and strengthen export options.

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