The order sets a 20% ceiling and makes mills responsible for storing any oil withdrawn. Activation requires a separate government resolution.
Spain has published the rules for a possible compulsory withdrawal of olive oil during the 2026/27 campaign. Order APA/1145/2026 appeared in the official gazette on Friday, 30 October, and enters into force on 31 October. The procedure requires a separate resolution on activation, including the proportion of production affected and the starting date.
The supply test and the 20% ceiling
Activation depends on opening stocks plus estimated production for 2026/27 reaching at least 120% of the average of that same sum over the preceding six campaigns. Spain's agriculture ministry forecast 1,602,596 tonnes of production on 1 October, while provisional stocks at the end of September were 356,914 tonnes. The prescribed historical comparison is needed to establish whether that supply meets the threshold.
A separate calculation determines the proportion to be withheld. It compares estimated resources (opening stocks, forecast production and average imports) with 120% of the average of the two highest commercialisation totals in the previous six campaigns. The resulting percentage cannot exceed 20% of estimated production.
Mills would carry the storage obligation
If activated, the measure would apply to mills producing olive oil in Spain. Each mill would store the prescribed percentage of its monthly declared production on its own premises or at another facility. The mill owner could choose which category of oil to withhold.
The oil would remain outside the market until the following marketing campaign, with quantities recorded in the monthly SIMO declarations. From 31 December, the ministry could review the situation and reduce the amount withheld in light of revised production estimates and market conditions. Until release, mills would have to accommodate the stock and finance oil they could not sell.
The agriculture ministry presents the measure as a way to prevent exceptional supply from destabilising the market. Spain's competition authority, the CNMC, warned in its 5 October assessment of the draft that restricting supply could raise consumer prices and affect competition, product choice and quality. It called for stronger evidence of extraordinary oversupply and clearer justification of the quantity to be withdrawn.
The document to follow is the Directorate-General for Agricultural Production and Markets' activation resolution, due by 15 November under the order, which would give mills the percentage and starting date for their storage obligations.