Filenews 30 March 2021 - by Angelos Nikolaou
Member States have - as expected - given the green light for the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of the Implementing Regulation on the registration of halloumi in the Register of Protected Designations of Origin (PDO). They unanimously supported the registration of all Member States with their positive written votes, and now the most important traditional product of Cyprus acquires a European protection identity and is definitively guaranteed that the name halloumi will be used for products legally manufactured only in Cyprus and in no other country within the community.
This important development was welcomed by President Anastasiades in a Twitter post in both Greek and Turkish: "Landmark day for #Halloumi /#Hellim and our country. The EU makes it a product #ΠΟΠ. A shield of protection is created and huge prospects for increasing exports of our national product, for the benefit of all Cypriot producers, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots."
At the same time, however, there are strong reactions on the inside front from cheesemakers and cow farmers. The former complain that they borrowed the name of halloumi to manufacture other products and place them on the international market, while the latter complain that the increased production of cow's milk to meet the demand of previous years will now remain indisposed and will lead to a drastic reduction in the price of milk, while on the contrary the production of sheep's and goat's milk will gain ground.
It is worth noting that since the publication of Cyprus' application in Brussels in 2015, halloumi production has doubled from 19,500 tonnes to 39,000 tonnes. Also, from 1 October 2021 onwards only halloumi complying with the requirements of the Regulation will be able to bear the PDO stamp, while no other product manufactured in the community will be able to bear the name halloumi.
However, following yesterday's decision by the Commission, the Minister of Agriculture entered into a dialogue with the cheesemakers for the following day, so that in cooperation with the two parties some changes could be made to the dossier that has just been approved, so that as many of the species currently bearing the name halloumi can be manufactured in Cyprus and have won the world market. For those products that do not achieve a solution they will no longer be able to bear the name halloumi, such as light and with various flavours of chili, pepper and basil. Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis appeared reassuring that it was in everyone's interest to secure the halloumi, noting that there was a serious risk that the Cypriot dish would be left to become a generic product with production potential anywhere in the world.
The president of the CheeseMakers' Association, George Petrou, spoke of a reduction in exports after it was registered as a PDO. "Of the 39 thousand tonnes we produce, our production will only come out 13.5 thousand tonnes." He also spoke of shrinking industry, the dismissal of people, rising unemployment, and the loss of foreign exchange imports into Cyprus. For his part, the director general of the Cyprus Cow Farmers' Organisation, Nikos Papakyriakou, expressed disappointment with the state's attitude, referring to the sale of halloumi to other countries. Unfortunately, he added, politicians are celebrating the name of a product that cannot be produced in Cyprus. He argued that with the tolerance of the Republic of Cyprus, the Turkish market is given the opportunity to channel halloumi through the green line.
