Sacramento, California - The California Department of Food and Agriculture (Department) recently conducted a public hearing to receive comments from the California olive oil industry and from the public on whether the operation of the Olive Oil Commission of California (Commission) should be continued. The Department is required to conduct such a hearing every five years pursuant to Sections 79891 and 79892 of the California Food and Agricultural Code. Based on the analysis of the hearing record, the Department has concluded that there is no substantial question as to whether the Commission should continue and therefore the Commission is authorized to operate for another five years through June 30, 2024 without the need for a producer vote.

Most of the testimony and evidence submitted into the hearing record was strongly supportive of the Commission’s continued operation. It was broad-based as it was received from a diverse group of industry representatives. It was also broad in scope as it highlighted the Commission’s contributions to the California olive oil industry via a range of activities including the implementation of strict standards for the purity and quality of California olive oil, verifying California olive oil quality through mandatory sampling and third-party analysis, requiring clear accurate labeling for California olive oil, and conducting research to assist farmers in growing olives for olive oil.
 
The Olive Oil Commission is one of 51 marketing programs overseen by the CDFA. These programs provide agricultural producers and handlers with an organizational structure, operating under government sanction, that allows them to solve production and marketing problems collectively that they could not address individually.