διαθέτουν (ελαιόλαδα) νόμιμα στο στάδιο του λιανικού εμπορίου

15:32 Jan 23, 2016 

To: Peter Close

Good morning, Peter.
You are right, the text is a part from the Regulation of the International Olive Oil Competition "XXXXX":
STANDARDISED EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL QUALITY COMPETITION "XXXX", organised by a Greek Olive Oil Society. Later in the text, you can find also the Terms and Conditions of Participation in the Competition, the Competition Process, the Awards etc. As a legal text, it is formally written and that is the reason why I chose to follow the writing style of the source text. Thank you, again. Wish you a pleasant weekend!

08:48 Jan 23, 2016 

Good morning, I am afraid that you are forgetting one very important point that is highly relevant in this particular text and that is that this particular text referred to a tender for the supply of olive oil. Calls or invitations to tender are always written in very formal legal language and it is important to translate them in the way that they are written. By having worded the text in the way that it was written, the writer may well have meant to imply or emphasise that the olive growers, olive producers, olive oil presses, merchants and olive oil formulators that he referred to mainly sell olive oil wholesale but are also licensed to make it available (or, to supply it) legally to end users and catering establishments. The writer of that text could have written that text far less formally in Greek if he had wanted to, but he didn’t, and since this text referred to or may have been part of a tender contract, it was important for the translation to follow the style and wording of the source text as closely as possible.

18:17 Jan 22, 2016 

To Peter Close.
I don't want to protract the conversation with you, it never finishes. However, without prejudice to the current case, what have the other Countries in the World got to do with this, a Greek to English Translation. If YOU, an English person, were in England and you read the sentence, 'make olive oil available at the retail stage', quite apart from its legality, would you not say, 'oh, you mean 'retail' it?'. But then I know the answer. So, please, this is the end of our conversation.

15:14 Jan 22, 2016 

I am sorry, but I don’t really understand what you were trying to say in your last discussion entry. However, the main fact of the matter is that in Greece and in most other countries, the different stages of selling are regulated in a number of laws, and, if one complies with the laws, one acts lawfully or legally, and, if one doesn’t, one acts unlawfully or illegally. The word ‘legally’ is therefore perfectly appropriate in the circumstances. And if an Englishman doesn’t understand this, so what? The English are not the only people in the world who read texts written in English, and in many countries of the world (including at least some parts of the USA), the relevant legislation is similar to the Greek legislation. So, if the English don’t understand the text, there are many other people in the world who are likely to.

14:34 Jan 22, 2016 

The 'legality' involved, then, is 'Authorization'. In a Country where regulation stifles commerce, that might be so. But, 'make olive oil available at the retail stage', sounds far fetched, especially should be, to you as an English man, or to any English speaker who will read the article, for that matter. That phrase, 'make olive...........' is just ONE word in English, as you would agree.
'Retail it'.

14:20 Jan 22, 2016 

Good afternoon, In Greece, producers, manufacturers and importers are not allowed to sell retail unless they obtain special licences to do so, which can be quite difficult to obtain. I had two import companies in Greece between 1974 and 2012, importing products and equipment for the agricultural and livestock sectors and was bound by the same legislation for close to forty years. I was not legally allowed to sell retail. I could only legally sell wholesale, and on the rare occasions that I did sell to end users, I ran the risk of paying a stiff fine if I was caught. Many farmers and producers sell retail illegally (i.e., without obtaining the special licence to do so), so the author of Dimitra’s text very reasonably worded his text in the way that he did so as to clarify that he, or his company or his cooperative sell retail lawfully or legally.

13:46 Jan 22, 2016 

I am sure a lot of people will agree that, there is nothing 'Legal' or 'Illegal' in selling olive oil, unless it is stolen. The Greek phrase, to me at least, sounds like beating about the bush. The simplified understanding looks like, the producers, cultivators etc. do not wish to allow ANYBODY to sell their 'famed' product so they have 'selected/ authorized trusted RETAILERS, merchants who sell directly to the public, to sell their product. This is a normal commercial procedure. Simply, the 'co-operative(?) authorized retailers to sell their virgin olive oil' They did not have to 'legalize' the appointment of the retailers. They can just write a 'letter of intent' to the retailers and the producers can claim they have 'Authorized Retailers'.