Brussels eases sterol limit for Koroneiki and Nocellara olive oils

The European Commission has relaxed the minimum total sterol content required of monovarietal extra virgin olive oils made from the Koroneiki or Nocellara del Belice varieties, and has made it compulsory to state the variety on the label. The measure is set out in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2358 of 21 August 2026, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, L series, of 23 October 2026. It amends Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 and enters into force on 24 October 2026, three weeks after the 2026/27 olive oil marketing year opened on 1 October.

The Commission acted under Article 75(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, which establishes the common organisation of the markets in agricultural products. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 lays down the characteristics of the olive oils listed in Part VIII, points 1 to 6, of Annex VII to that Regulation, and its limit values mirror the trade standard of the International Olive Council (IOC).

In its recitals, the Commission explains that the number of monovarietal extra virgin olive oils placed on the market has grown as production practices and consumer preferences have changed. Although these oils are authentic and of high quality, some failed the required total sterol limit, a parameter influenced mostly by the olive variety but also by the degree of ripeness, the geographical area and irrigation. Because the IOC is still carrying out a study on total sterol content in extra virgin olive oil, the organisation adopted an amendment to its trade standard as an intermediate solution for the two most concerned varieties.

Sterol floor cut to 800 milligrams per kilogram

Article 1(2) of the new regulation replaces Annex I of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104 in its entirety. The revised table keeps the general threshold for extra virgin olive oil at ≥ 1 000 mg/kg of total sterols, but adds a footnote granting a lower floor to the two varieties concerned:

• ≥ 800 mg/kg for monovarietal extra virgin olive oil from either the Koroneiki or the Nocellara del Belice variety.
• ≥ 1 000 mg/kg for all other extra virgin and virgin olive oils.
• ≥ 2 500 mg/kg for crude olive-pomace oil, ≥ 1 800 mg/kg for refined olive-pomace oil and ≥ 1 600 mg/kg for olive-pomace oil.

The remaining quality characteristics of extra virgin olive oil are carried over unchanged: acidity of no more than 0,80 %, peroxide value of no more than 20,0 mEq O2/kg, K232 of no more than 2,50, K268 or K270 of no more than 0,22, ΔK of no more than 0,01, a median of defects of 0,0, a fruity median above 0,0 and fatty acid ethyl esters of no more than 35 mg/kg. The annex also allows the panel leader, on request, to certify positive attributes according to the expressions described in Annex II.

The variety must now appear on the label

Article 1(1) inserts a new Article 8a into Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104. It requires that the labelling of extra virgin olive oil made solely from either the Koroneiki or the Nocellara del Belice variety indicate that variety in three places:

• on the label;
• on the accompanying documents;
• on any other labelling.

The Commission justifies the obligation by the fact that a different limit applies to these oils, so both consumers and control authorities must be able to identify easily that a specific oil is a monovarietal oil of one of the two varieties.

Alignment with the International Olive Council

The regulation transposes two IOC decisions that the Union supported:

• Decision DEC-III.2/119-VI/2024, adopted at the IOC’s 119th session on 25 June 2024, which revised document COI/T.20/DOC. No 15/Rev. 11 on the organoleptic assessment of virgin olive oil; the Union’s position was set by Council Decision (EU) 2024/2911 of 5 November 2024.
• Decision DEC-III.1/121-VI/2025, adopted at the 121st session on 8 July 2025, which amended the IOC trade standard on total sterol content in monovarietal oils of the Koroneiki or Nocellara del Belice variety; the Union’s position was set by Council Decision (EU) 2025/1213 of 12 June 2025.

Urgency tied to the new campaign

The Commission states that monovarietal extra virgin olive oils covered by the derogation could not currently be placed on the market under any olive oil category, so operators should benefit from the amendment without delay. That is why the regulation enters into force on the day following publication rather than after the usual delay. The text was adopted in Brussels on 21 August 2026 and signed for the Commission by its President, Ursula von der Leyen; it is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

For millers, packers and bottlers in the middle of the 2026/27 campaign, the change removes a commercial deadlock: oils from two widely planted Mediterranean varieties can now be sold as extra virgin provided they reach 800 mg/kg of total sterols, but only if the bottle and the paperwork name the variety. Buyers gain a clearer signal on the label, and inspectors gain a verifiable criterion for a category that previously had no legal outlet.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 23 October 2026, 2026/2358 (official reference: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2358, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2026/2358/oj).