Minister hails ‘historic’ halloumi meeting (updated)

Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis said on Tuesday that full agreement on the controversial topic of PDO-certified halloumi has been reached, following a meeting at the presidential palace a day earlier.

For an initial transitional period, products may be labelled ‘halloumi’ as long as they contain at least 10 per cent goat and sheep milk, quickly ramping up to 20 per cent, as goat and sheep farmers increase their animal stocks. The final PDO label stipulates a share of 50 per cent sheep and goat milk, the rest consisting of cow milk.

Calling the five-and-a-half- hour meeting “historic,” the minister said that all stakeholders have now been convinced of the long-term benefits of following the PDO (product of designated origin) route.

Kadis expects that as of now, big dairy producers will begin to register in the system en masse, so that by end of August the only halloumi available on supermarket shelves will be PDO-certified.

Asked about the transitional period, Kadis said he believed all dairy farmers stood to benefit from it, including cow farmers, and that although there may be a temporary dip in production, in the long run the certified labelling would raise the value of halloumi and increase profits.

Speaking to local media, the minister explained that under the deal clinched with stakeholders, the transitional period with a 10 per cent portioning of goat and sheep milk will last four months – until January 2023. After that, the specifications will jump to 20 per cent, and thereafter that portioning will increase by five per cent a year – reaching 50 per cent by the year 2029.

Kadis also noted that although Cyprus has the right to attain those specifications earlier, by 2024, “there is a scenario for modifying EU regulations concerning PDOs, giving Cyprus some leeway to adapt to the new state of affairs relating to the production of PDO-certified halloumi.”

That’s because there are currently wider discussions underway inside the EU for allowing the Commission to grant, in exceptional circumstances, a transitional period of more than ten years.

“Had halloumi been approved, like all the rest of the cheeses in the EU, in seven to ten months, we would have had ahead of us a decade to work on increasing the milk [content],” said Kadis.

“After seven years of pending approval for the PDO, considerable controversy had been created, and the producers did not do what they should have to reach this portioning. We think the European Commission will now give us this lost time, with an extension to 2029.”

The Commission Regulation registering halloumi as a PDO was published in April of 2021.

Cyprus first filed an application for the cheese back in July 2014. At the time they said a transitional period of 10 years from the date of submission had been granted to operators to fully comply.

Meanwhile during a press briefing in Brussels on Tuesday, a European Commission spokesman confirmed the EU understands that Cyprus now plans to file a request for modifications to the halloumi PDO file.

The Commission is in touch with Nicosia and the process would “take its course,” the spokesman added.

Responding to a query, the spokesman confirmed that it is possible to file for modifications to a geographical designation product.

Back in Nicosia, Kadis expressed satisfaction that securing the PDO label was rescued from defeat at the “eleventh hour,” and emphasised that halloumi came very close to being termed a generic product which any country could produce.

Asked whether there were concerns about competition from non PDO halloumi-style cheeses being produced and sold to countries outside the EU, Kadis said that even in Cyprus producers would continue to be free to develop and sell a new line of cheeses, similar to halloumi, which would be given other names.

Cyprus can counter and compete with copy-cat cheeses labelled halloumi by employing a strategy of moving PDO-certified halloumi into these third-country markets, Kadis maintained.

As for halloumi produced in the north, the minister said arrangements could be made for its quality control, certification, and subsequent transfer across the green line for export, which had the potential to also benefit Turkish Cypriot farmers and producers willing to enroll in the PDO system.