Italy: Fraud report prompts China to 'block Italian olive oil imports'

Rome, 4 Jan. (AKI) - China has blocked the import of Italian olive oil following a report that businesses are fraudulently selling the product as ''Made in Italy'' when it has in fact been mixed with inferior oil from other Mediterranean countries.

Chinese customs authorities have frozen the sale of the oil while authorities conduct a probe into 13 Italian unnamed olive oil exporters, according to the La Repubblica newspaper, which in December published the results of a probe into Italy's 5 billion euro olive-oil business.

The article said 80 percent of the country's oil carrying the label "Made in Italy" is mixed with lower quality Spanish, Tunisian and Greek oil.

Italy exports 250 thousand metric tons of oil every year, but imports total 470 thousand tons. Last year oil imports jumped by 100 thousand tons, prompting authorities to ask where it ended up, according to the La Repubblica report published on 23 December.