Export of olive fruit trees is free!

SÜSBİR President Savaş Akcan

SÜSBİR President Savaş Akcan and SÜSBİR Board Member Ahmet Korhan Çiçek with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture.

Grown olive trees have become popular plants in landscaping applications in recent years.

Exports of olives and other cultivated fruit trees, which can only be consumed domestically, have been permitted. Could this alleviate the difficulties caused by the economic downturn that is increasingly affecting the sector? SUSBIR We learn from President Savaş Akcan.   

Olive groves and fruit trees… 

When the import and export of uncertified fruit saplings was banned in 2020, the export of our cultivated fruit trees, which we would use in landscaping, was also banned. Olives were previously a banned variety. We tried to explain at the time that this decision would harm the sector and cause export difficulties. We explained that fruit growing in our country covers very large areas, and just like fashion, product lines change every 10-15 years, changing from oranges to avocados, plums to nectarines depending on consumer preferences. When producers changed fruit varieties, they uprooted their cultivated fruit trees because they couldn't establish orchards and sold them to bakeries for firewood. Some were then potted by landscaping companies for landscaping.

Saving trees that will be burned…

In particular, significant amounts of olive trees were at risk of being burned for firewood during expropriation efforts during highway construction. In this situation, sector companies strained their resources, stockpiling some of the olive trees by placing them in pots. Because there was insufficient demand for the olive and fruit trees in stock, they were not being consumed. There was demand for these trees from the Turkic Republics, the Gulf countries, and even France and Spain, but the ban prevented us from exporting them. We have emphasized this issue in our meetings with the ministry since 2020. We were given the justification of "protecting endemic species" for olive trees. We explained that these projects could no longer be carried out by importing plants, but by taking a piece of tissue and "tissue culture." Ultimately, it became clear that some of the classic bans were no longer valid, and Republic of Turkey Ministry of Trade removed the barrier to fruit tree exports, including olives.   

When stocks in nurseries run out…

According to the amendment approved by the Ministry of Trade, sales of olive and fruit trees in stock are permitted until January 1, 2027. After this date, plants removed from orchards subject to expropriation or reforestation may be exported after certification with the approval of the provincial or district agricultural directorate. We estimate that the stocks in our nurseries will be depleted by 2027. This means that, starting in January 2027, not everyone will be able to freely remove and sell olive trees.

Will it contribute to exports?

Because exports of mature olive and fruit trees were unavailable, importers seeking to procure these trees were also refusing to purchase other landscape products they had ordered. This, in turn, limited our export capabilities. I believe this freedom could help overcome the sector's accumulated economic challenges. We estimate a $40-50 million increase in exports this year compared to last year.