Turkish Cypriots to be able to export PDO halloumi ‘by June’

Turkish Cypriot halloumi producers should be able to export their product to the standards of the protected designation of origin (PDO) by June, the European Commission’s Cyprus Settlement Support Unit head Kjartan Bjornsson said on Monday.

He said the European Commission has set June as its goal for the first PDO halloumi to cross the Green Line to be able to be exported on to the rest of the European Union, and that he “hopes the Turkish Cypriot community will successfully comply with EU health standards for halloumi.”

He added that in the export of PDO halloumi, “there is a message of hope beyond the positive data regarding the increase in transit and trade,” and that the move to export PDO halloumi to the EU “shows the Turkish Cypriot community is able and willing to adopt EU standards.”

On other matters, he said “it would be a good idea to promote programmes for media cooperation through the EU”, and also pointed to the success of a recent bicommunal initiative regarding professional translators.

He described it as a “good example of cooperation on technical and professional issues beyond politics”.