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Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani has announced his country's intention to rejoin the International Olive Council.
The announcement came during his meeting with International Olive Council Executive Director Jaime Lillo in Madrid, where the two discussed the steps taken by the Iraqi government to return to the intergovernmental organisation.
An International Olive Council official told the Olive Oil Times: "If Iraq wishes to become a member of the council, it must submit a formal application to the organisation." The official added: "From that point, a process will begin during which the council of members will decide on the quota to be allocated to Iraq."
The quota determines the size of Iraq's financial contribution to the council and its voting rights. It is calculated based on the activity of the country's olive sector.
Once the application is submitted, the Iraqi parliament must ratify the 2015 International Olive Oil Agreement. Al-Sudani said this process is already under way.
The International Olive Council official added: "Once these steps are complete, Iraq will officially become a member of the council with rights and obligations." The official continued: "Iraqi citizens will benefit from the council's activities, particularly in the area of technical cooperation."
The official noted that "the country will also be required to respect and apply the International Olive Council's trade standard, which protects consumers by ensuring quality standards are applied to olive oil and table olives."
Iraq first joined the International Olive Council in 2008 but withdrew a few years later due to economic and administrative difficulties.
The council said Iraq's decision to rejoin represents a decisive step towards the country's reintegration into the organisation and its commitment to reviving its olive sector.
According to International Olive Council data, olive oil production in Iraq is considered negligible, but the country produces around 10,000 metric tonnes of table olives annually.
The olive sector has suffered a series of setbacks over the past decade, including damage to olive groves in the north-west of the country caused by the Islamic State (ISIS) during its occupation between 2014 and 2017.
A 2022 report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute stated: "Orchards, olive trees, and wheat and barley crops were destroyed." The report added: "A joint assessment by the World Bank and the Iraqi government estimated that the total cost of damage to the agricultural sector in Nineveh amounted to around 1,377 billion dinars (95 million dollars)."
The report noted that "in Bashiqa, for example, ISIS destroyed olive groves containing hundreds of thousands of olive trees, some of them centuries old." It added: "The city's once-thriving olive trade, which specialised in producing oil and soap, suffered greatly as a result."
In addition to the conflicts, Iraqi olive farmers face other challenges, including rising electricity and fuel costs.
One olive farmer in Bashiqa said: "Electricity is extremely expensive, and there is no support for farmers, such as subsidised electricity or fuel."
Fierce competition from imported olives has also hurt local producers, who often struggle to sell their products at competitive prices in the domestic market.
Ali Jarjis, another olive farmer in Bashiqa, told the Kurdish news agency Rudaw: "Imported olives have significantly affected our market, and the government provides us with no support."
Despite the challenges, there have been efforts over several years to revive the sector.
In 2022, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) identified olives as a strategic crop for drought-prone areas in the north and north-west of Iraq.
In this context, the UN World Food Programme helped open a modern olive oil press in Bashiqa, while the UN Development Programme is supporting efforts to plant olive trees in the Hadhar region in the country's west-centre.