The amount of goat milk in halloumi will be reduced from 25 to 15 per cent until the end of the year because of the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD), Commerce Minister Michael Damianos said. 

“The quantities of goat and sheep milk currently available do not allow all halloumi producers to comply with the production specifications of the protected designation of origin for halloumi,” he said in the official gazette.

Damianos said that, therefore, the minimum amount of goat and sheep milk in the raw materials used to produce halloumi will be reduced until the end of the year.

The exact timeframe is the period between May 15 and December 31, 2026.

“The above ratios, unless modified, will remain in effect until the end of the transitional period,” he said.

The outbreak of FMD in February has led to the islandwide culling of thousands of animals including cattle, goats and sheep.

This has had a direct impact on the local agricultural industry, and consequently on halloumi cheese, which is one of Cyprus most successful exports.

Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou, in a statement on Wednesday afternoon, said the measure was deemed necessary to maintain exports and ensure the protection of the PDO classification.

“We have lost around 10 per cent of our sheep and goats so far, so it was logical to also have a reduction in sheep and goat milk,” she said.

She added that the situation would be monitored on an ongoing basis, and that the cheesemakers’ association has confirmed that they will continue to receive all quantities of milk, without amending any agreements with our sheep and goat farmers.

“I hope there is an increase and this is completed and there will definitely be an upward adjustment,” she said.

The Cyprus cheesemakers’ association, on its part, welcomed newly announced plans.

“[The available quantities of goat and sheep milk] do not allow all halloumi producers to comply with the production specifications for PDO halloumi and the relevant standards, based on which goat or sheep milk must be superior to cow’s milk,” the association said.

“Efforts are being made to gradually increase the production of goat and sheep milk,” the association said.

Describing the new regulations as a “transitional period”, the cheesemakers said that they aimed to enable full compliance of all producers with the production specifications for PDO halloumi by the end of the year.

Farmers’ organisations, however, were less than impressed, saying in a joint statement that the decision “only serves expediency and not the safeguarding of the PDO, as that has been guaranteed”.

They added that they had previously warned the government against such plans, and pointed out that cows have also fallen victim to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in recent months.

“After its registration, halloumi must be a product, like all other PDOs in Europe, which is linked to tradition, uniqueness, and quality, from production to milk processing, while acquiring corresponding value, both for producers and farmers and cheesemakers,” they said.

“It should not be manufactured based on the needs of the market and industrialists, but according to the registered specifications.”