The International Olive Council grows: Iraq joins, Brazil and South Africa apply

The Madrid-based International Olive Council (IOC) is the only intergovernmental body for olives and olive oil. It sets standards, quality criteria and common trade rules. In the first week of September the council made three separate announcements, and all three point the same way: the world of the olive is expanding beyond the Mediterranean.

Three developments

All the announcements followed meetings between IOC Executive Director Jaime Lillo and the countries' ambassadors to Spain at the council's Madrid headquarters.

Iraq: from observer to member

Before becoming a full member, Iraq took part in the council's work as an observer for two years. Its membership took effect on 8 August 2026. During a courtesy visit on 9 September by Iraq's Ambassador to Spain, Ali Shamran Hajem, it was stressed that membership will let Iraq benefit from the council's technical cooperation and training activities and take part in its specialised work.

Iraq is not a major producer today. But membership means a country can classify and register its own product according to international standards and build laboratory and tasting panel capacity through the council's programmes. For new growing areas, council membership is a kind of shortcut to technical infrastructure.

Brazil: Latin America's biggest importer

Brazil's application was delivered at a meeting with its Ambassador to Spain, Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado. Brazil had been attending recent meetings as an observer. The figures the council shared sum up why the country matters:

Brazil is Latin America's largest olive oil importer. The IOC's olive oil promotion campaign in the country has been extended to the end of 2027. Brazil is not only a buyer, either: extra virgin olive oils produced in Brazil have won places in the council's Mario Solinas Quality Awards for the Southern Hemisphere.

South Africa: the other Southern Hemisphere pillar

South Africa's request was delivered at a meeting with its Ambassador to Spain, Sankie Dolly Mthembi-Mahanyele. The council's announcement noted that South African producer De Rustica Estate took second prize in the "robust green fruity" category of the 2025 Mario Solinas Quality Awards.

In the Southern Hemisphere the harvest calendar runs opposite to the Mediterranean's; olives are picked during what are spring months in the north. That is why the council holds a separate Southern Hemisphere edition of its quality competition. Membership for South Africa and Brazil would give that calendar more weight within the council.

What does the council's standard define?

The IOC trade standard defines the categories we see on shelves. Extra virgin olive oil must not exceed 0.8% free acidity, and virgin olive oil 2%; classification rests not only on chemical analysis but also on a sensory assessment by a trained tasting panel. Oil found to be defective falls outside the virgin categories.

These definitions carry into member countries' own regulations. A country joining the council is taking a step towards using the "extra virgin" label on its domestic market by the same criteria. That matters for consumers too: the same label starts to stand for the same quality in different countries. We explain how to read these categories and how they are priced on exchanges in our exchange price guide.

What it means for Türkiye

Türkiye is one of the council's member countries. The expansion has two practical sides.

The first is markets. When a country with growing imports such as Brazil adopts council standards, the classification and labelling of the olive oil sold there move closer to international criteria. That eases market access for exporters producing to those standards. With end-of-August data showing Turkish olive oil exports down 62% in volume for the season, alternative markets matter more. We covered losses in the main markets in our piece on the US tariff.

The second is competition. Southern Hemisphere output reaches the market with fresh oil in the months when the north is short of supply. As these producers gain weight within the council, seasonal price gaps could narrow over time. We examined how production swings among Mediterranean countries affect prices through the opposite phases of Türkiye and Tunisia.

Read with care

⚠ An application is not membership. Brazil's and South Africa's requests have been submitted; membership takes effect only when the accession process to the international agreement is complete.

⚠ Brazil's import figures are rounded. The 50,000 and 80,000 tonnes were given as "about" in the council's announcement; they are not official annual statistics.

⚠ The council's total number of members was not stated in the announcements, so we have not given one.