OLIVE OIL QUALITY AND EEC REGULATIONS

The law-makers' growing interest in the quality of olive oil is presented with comments on the modifications in the law in recent years. The Panel testing method by the International Olive Oil Council wa initially considered by the EEC as a good instrument for ensuring an improved quality in virgin olive oils. Panel testing is discussed as a method useful for obtaining information that chemical and physical methods cannot give, and as a legal test. After some years of experience, we know the weakness of the C.O.I. method and it is also possible to discuss its legal and economic consequences. A better knowledge of the quality of olive oils is needed in order to establish: what to do to improve our understanding of consumer demands and to obtain a better olive oil quality; the kind of modification needed to improve the legal reliability of the panel test.