Italy permits virgin and extra-virgin olive oil blends for export

Ministry partly reverses July restriction

Italy’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty has authorized the blending of virgin and extra-virgin olive oil for products destined exclusively for export, ItaliaOggi reported. The resulting oil may be labeled extra virgin provided that it complies with the chemical, physical and organoleptic requirements applicable to that category.

The clarification partially reverses the ministry’s circular No. 347821 of 16 July 2026, published in Official Gazette No. 169 on 23 July 2026. That circular prohibited the practice and required companies to reclassify oil produced from such blends as virgin olive oil within 30 days.

Authorization covers EU and non-EU destinations

The revised position was set out in a ministry note signed on 11 August 2026 by department heads Giuseppe Blasi, Marco Lupo and Felice Assenza. It answered questions submitted by the industry associations Federolio and Assitol. According to the note quoted by ItaliaOggi, the export authorization covers both bulk and packaged oil shipped to another EU country or to a market outside the bloc.

The exemption does not lower the quality threshold for extra-virgin olive oil. A blend containing virgin oil can retain the higher classification only when the finished product satisfies every required extra-virgin parameter. Oil that does not meet those standards cannot qualify on the basis of its intended destination alone.

Export stocks require digital traceability

The ministry’s interpretation means companies can continue holding blended oil in industrial stocks under the extra-virgin classification when it is assigned to export markets. Bottlers may also blend Italian virgin and extra-virgin oils for foreign customers. Operators must maintain the electronic oil register correctly so that the transactions remain transparent and fully traceable.

This creates a clear operational division between export production and oil intended for the Italian market. Processors and bottlers will need inventory controls capable of documenting the destination of each batch, alongside laboratory and sensory evidence that the final blend meets the extra-virgin specification. The rule may give exporters more flexibility in sourcing and formulation without formally reducing product standards.

Italy moves closer to Spain’s approach

ItaliaOggi said the clarification brings Italy into line with Spain’s treatment of export-bound blends. Spain’s Royal Decree No. 760/2021 generally prevents an oil previously classified in a lower category from being marketed in a higher one. However, Spain suspended that provision for oil intended for export while awaiting guidance from Brussels, which the publication said never arrived.

Under that approach, Spanish companies have been able to produce virgin and extra-virgin blends, classify the finished oil as extra virgin and export it to Italy, where it can reach domestic supermarket shelves. Italy’s export exemption therefore reduces an asymmetry affecting its bottlers: they can now formulate comparable products for foreign markets, including other EU countries, as long as quality tests, destination records and traceability requirements are met.