The Coordinator of Farmers and Livestock Organizations (COAG) has called on the European Commission and the Spanish Government to immediately suspend the preferential quota that allows the arrival of olive oil from Tunisia without tariffs.
The organization has warned that this flow of merchandise is generating what they have called Tunisian “ghost oil”, a significant volume of product that enters community territory without the same requirements for traceability, origin and controls that are required of European producers, and whose final destination is opaque for consumers, authorities and the sector itself.
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56,700 tons enter without tariffs
Each season, community regulations authorize the import of up to 56,700 tons of bulk Tunisian virgin olive oil duty-free. COAG has recalled that this quota is usually exhausted in the first weeks of the period due to a procedure “with very few restrictions”, which is also added to ordinary exports, in a context in which Tunisia allocates 80% of its production to the European Union. However, the organization has highlighted a clear inconsistency. “If Spain is the main or second buyer of Tunisian oil, why does it not appear on practically any label? Where is it and how is that oil marketed?”, the agricultural entity stated.
The oil enters in large volumes but is not visibly declared in the final products, something that suggests possible mixtures, re-labeling or triangulations, without the consumer knowing the real origin of the purchased product, according to the organization.
A gap in European traceability and a competition that COAG considers unfair
COAG has denounced that these preferential imports are not subject to the same controls that European farmers must comply with. While the Spanish sector is subject to audits, certifications and strict consumer information obligations, low-cost imported oil circulates with more lax requirements. This situation, according to COAG, causes:
- Unfair competition for community producers.
- Price distortion both in Spain and in international markets.
- Possible triangulations towards third countries, especially the United States, to avoid tariffs.
- Lack of transparency in the information offered to the consumer.
According to data from the Tunisian National Agricultural Observatory (ONAGRI), Tunisia exported 210,700 tons of olive oil between August 2024 and August 2025, most of it destined for the European market. Given these figures, COAG has questioned the evolution of the system. “If export capacity grows year after year without the need to increase quotas, and even so there is talk of expanding them to 100,000 tons, what is really happening with that oil? Who buys it? How is it sold? In whose name does it leave the country?” are raised from the organization.
Immediate demands to the EU and the Government
The entity has demanded that the Government and the European Union implement a battery of urgent measures to guarantee transparency throughout the commercial circuit:
- Suspend the preferential quota for Tunisian oil until traceability equivalent to that in Europe is guaranteed.
- Paralyze inward processing and customs warehouses, a mechanism that makes it easier to introduce non-EU oil to re-export it as a processed European product.
- Strengthen traceability controls on all imports, with special surveillance in Andalusia.
- Open investigations from Competition and Consumer Affairs on possible practices that alter the market or may deceive the consumer.
“It is not a protest, it is a defense of the market and the consumer. If Spanish farmers comply with each standard, everyone must comply with them. And if the oil is labeled correctly, then there will be nothing to fear,” insisted Francisco Elvira, general secretary of COAG Jaén and responsible for the Olivar area.
The entry of this “ghost oil” without tariffs and without comparable controls threatens both the economic stability of the sector and the reputation of European olive oil, according to the agricultural organization. They maintain that this scenario artificially depresses prices, opens the door to speculative operations and harms thousands of farmers who do comply with community regulations. “Traceability cannot have double standards. Either it is for everyone, or it is no longer a credible system,” Elvira concluded.