The "Conference for the creation of a national cork sector roundtable" took place on October 9 and 10 at the La Almoraima estate, located in Castellar de la Frontera (Cádiz). This event was organized by the National Rural Network at the proposal of the General Subdirectorate of Forestry and was attended by representatives of three Autonomous Communities with cork production in Spain: Andalusia, Extremadura and Catalonia, as well as representatives of cork producer associations and the primary and secondary processing industries.

The objective of this conference was to analyze the current situation of the cork sector in Spain and discuss the possibility of creating a national sectoral committee or an interprofessional agri-food organization. To meet this challenge, representatives from all stakeholders in the cork sector were invited to participate: researchers, universities, cork oak forest managers, cork harvesting and processing companies, industry, administration, and owners.

During the day, the two supra-regional operational groups addressing the cork sector were presented: "SUBER: Modernization of cork stripping to improve productivity" and "BIOCORK - operational group for the biorational control of the cork snake (Coroebus undatus)." The Deputy Director General of Food Chain Structure, Esther Valverde, then explained what an agri-food interprofessional organization is, how it is formed, and the advantages and difficulties that may arise when forming one.

The day concluded with a proposal from the Forestry and Forestry Subdirectorate of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food, and Environment to continue promoting meetings to further this goal and encouraged participants to contribute with any proposals and suggestions they deemed interesting. The opportunity presented by the establishment of the National Forestry Council, within which a specific working group on cork could be formed, was also mentioned.

Finally, it was reported that next year the Directorate General for Rural Development and Forestry Policy will conduct a communications campaign on the advantages of using forest products, which, of course, include cork and the various products derived from it.