Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1226

of 4 May 2016

amending Annex IX to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the optional reserved terms for olive oil

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/20071, and in particular Article 86 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2568/912 defines the physical, chemical and organoleptic characteristics of olive oil and olive-pomace oil and lays down methods of assessing those characteristics. Those methods and the limit values for the characteristics of oils are regularly updated to take account of developments in scientific and technical knowledge in line with the work carried out within the International Olive Council.

(2)

On 26 November 2015, the International Olive Council adopted a new method for the organoleptic assessment of virgin olive oil modifying the optional terminology for labelling purposes.

(3)

The optional reserved terms are set out in Annex IX to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.

(4)

Annex IX to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: