Agriculture Minister: Cyprus ‘in last step’ to register halloumi as PDO

Cyprus’ traditional cheese halloumi is now at the final stage to be registered as an EU product of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Minister of Agriculture Costas Kadis, told CAN on Wednesday, expressing the hope that Cyprus’ long-standing goal could be achieved within the next month.

Kadis said that they are now at the final stage of the registration process, after a period of hard work and intense consultations. What remains, he said, is the approval of the legal texts proposed by the competent EU Committees in which the member states participate and then by the College of Commissioners.

He explained that there are currently two legal texts. One concerning the registration of halloumi as a PDO and one concerning the decision of the European Commission on the phytosanitary inspections to be carried out in Cyprus’ occupied territories and the crossing of the product from the green line.

As he said after the competent EU committee looked at the second issue on Tuesday, there were no objections, while the member states will vote on the product registration as PDO on March 26. The decisions will then need to be ratified by the College of Commissioners, in order for the registration to be completed.

The Minister estimated that, if everything goes smoothly, Cyprus would soon achieve the registration. “We are in the last step of the registration process,” said Kadis, adding that everything seems to be going smoothly.

Furthermore, Kadis said that after the new European Commission commenced its duties, the Cyprus government tried and achieved to bring to the same table the three competent Commissioners, namely Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, and Cohesion and Reform Commissioner Elisa Ferreira, along with the EU’s Legal Service. All of them, Kadis said, looked at the issue from every aspect and submitted a comprehensive proposal to the Republic of Cyprus.

“This proposal addresses the hot issue of phytosanitary controls on products that will be characterised as PDO in the occupied territories of Cyprus, which was the main obstacle in the past,” he noted.

Kadis said that the proposal submitted to the Republic of Cyprus is fully in line with the European acquis and all the checks under the European acquis will be carried out in the occupied territories, by an independent body designated and authorised for this purpose by the Republic of Cyprus.

These inspections, he added, will be carried out in a manner similar to the inspections that will be carried out for the PDO by the international certification company Bureau Veritas, based on the agreement reached in 2015 between President Anastasiades and then Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci. In a similar manner, he said, phytosanitary data will be checked by another international body.

At the same time, he said that registration is an opportunity for Turkish Cypriots to legally trade halloumi as long as it meets all the specifications.

The Minister of Agriculture also said that the ministry and the government are already looking into the next day after the registration. The ministry, he said, will seek consultation with all stakeholders on the halloumi issue.

Among the issues to be discussed is the mechanism to check the compliance with the PDO, the contract with Bureau Veritas and the organisation for the phytosanitary inspections in the occupied territories and the stocks of the cheese makers created due to the pandemic.

These issues, he said, are already being discussed with the European Commission and all stakeholders in Cyprus.

He noted, at the same time, that the registration will bring huge benefits to Cyprus. He added that due to the success of halloumi, the product has been under a lot of pressure in recent years, while currently five EU member states irregularly produce a cheese called halloumi.

He also said that halloumi trademark, is facing a big trade war and at the moment there are more than 80 court appeals disputing the trademark. Kadis also said that some people are already claiming that halloumi is generic and can be produced by anyone, anywhere. The registration, he said, will stop all these, once and for all.