European Union imports of Syrian olive oil fell from EUR 56.4 million in 2023 to EUR 36.3 million in 2024 and EUR 4.8 million in 2025, and the grade composition inverted as they fell
Claim ID
OLIVE-001
Exact or summary claim
European Union imports of Syrian olive oil fell from EUR 56.4 million in 2023 to EUR 36.3 million in 2024 and EUR 4.8 million in 2025, and the grade composition inverted as they fell
Destination
Chapter 9
Status
SUPPORTED
Source
Eurostat, Comext dataset DS-045409, 'EU trade since 1988 by HS2-4-6 and CN8', EU27 imports from Syria of HS 1509 and its CN8 subheadings, queried 24 August 2026 (SRC-385); grade definitions at International Olive Council trade standard COI/T.15/NC No 3/Rev. 20 (SRC-383)
Source type
Official statistical dataset of an intergovernmental statistical authority
Published
2026-08-14
Accessed
2026-08-24
Measure and scope
Customs value in euros of EU27 imports from the Syrian Arab Republic under HS 1509, annual. Exact values: 56,388,561; 36,318,453; 4,762,151. Quantities in 100 kg: 120,611.52; 74,779.55; 11,523.1
Known conflict
THE SUBHEADINGS RECONCILE EXACTLY TO THE HS 1509 TOTAL IN ALL THREE YEARS, which nothing else in this chapter's trade evidence does. THE COMPOSITION INVERTS AND NO EARLIER ARTEFACT NOTICED: lampante, CN 1509 40, was 84.7 per cent of value in 2023, 68.6 in 2024 and 13.8 in 2025, while extra virgin, CN 1509 20, ran 10.4, then 15.3, then 54.8. So what survived the collapse is the top of the grade ladder and not the bottom. THIS IS EU-DECLARED IMPORT DATA and not a Syrian export return; Syria has filed no UN Comtrade export return since 2010 [VERB CORRECTED 24 AUGUST 2026, CH9-B13, AND THE STRUCK WORDING IS QUOTED SO A PARTIAL READING CANNOT REINTRODUCE IT: this row read 'Syria has filed no UN Comtrade export return since 2010'. THAT EXCEEDS THE EVIDENCE, and the chapter's own verification report bars it at its line 101: 'It must not say Syria filed no return or does not report.' WHAT THE QUERY ESTABLISHES is that the public preview endpoint, queried on 23 August 2026 for reporterCode=760, partnerCode=0, cmdCode=TOTAL, flowCode=X, one period per call, returns a record for 2010 and count 0 for 2011 to 2024. A QUERY CANNOT DISTINGUISH a country that filed nothing from a country whose return UNSD did not publish, and 2025 was not queried at all.]
Specialist
Olive trade and quality
Downstream
Chapters 9 and 10
Action
Print the three values with Eurostat named and the measure stated as EU-declared imports. The manuscript's 'roughly four fifths' for the 2023 lampante share is a slight understatement of 84.7 per cent and is defensible. ITS 'in bulk, unbranded, at the bottom of the grade ladder' IS EXACT FOR 2023 AND IS NOT TRUE OF THE RESIDUE, and both should be said. Any unit value derived from value over quantity is this project's own arithmetic and must be labelled as such [PACKAGING LIMB QUALIFIED 24 AUGUST 2026, CH9-B02. This row calls the manuscript's 'in bulk, unbranded, at the bottom of the grade ladder' exact for 2023, AND THE ROW NAMES NO BASIS FOR THE PACKAGING LIMB. Its Measure_and_scope is customs value and quantity in 100 kg, which is weight and not packaging, and CN 1509 40 records grade. THE GRADE LIMB IS EXACT AND IS PRINTED; the bulk and unbranded limbs are not printed in Chapter 9 and may not be until a source recording container size or branding is opened and registered. This is a narrowing of what the prose takes from the row, not a widening.]