The European Commission on Tuesday refuted Cypriot cattle breeders’ assertions that it was offering preferential treatment to Turkish Cypriot halloumi producers.

The cattle breeders’ coordinating committee expressed fury on Monday over the commission’s decision to provide €39.5 million in aid for the Turkish Cypriot community, and, in particular, €6.5m allocated to increase Turkish Cypriot halloumi producers’ compliance with the EU’s Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) requirements.

In a statement to the Cyprus Mail, a commission spokesperson said the European Union’s aid programme for the Turkish Cypriot community has been implemented since 2006.

“The programme seeks to facilitate Cyprus’ reunification by encouraging the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot community,” the spokesperson added.

In this regard, “specific attention is paid to the economic integration of the island, improving contact and exchanges between the two communities and with the EU, and preparation for the implementation of the acquis in the Turkish Cypriot community following a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue,” the spokesperson added.

It does this by, among other things, supporting economic development opportunities, confidence-building measures, and effective functioning of the civil society.

They described their funding for halloumi producers as their “most prominent recent bridge-building initiative”, with the EU market value of halloumi currently being estimated at €115m.

The bridge-building, in this sense, comes from the fact that, as the spokesperson said, “Turkish Cypriot producers will be able to sell PDO-compliant halloumi across the Green Line for placement in the EU market once the Turkish Cypriot community reaches the required EU food safety and animal health standards.”

To this end, the commission has “mobilised significant resources … to support producers to comply with the PDO requirements, and the entire community to comply with the relevant EU standards.”

These resources now amount to around €30m since 2021.

The cattle breeders had claimed that the EU’s funding for Turkish Cypriot halloumi producers was allowing them to “market products without restrictions on the use of goat and sheep milk in third countries,” though it has now been made clear this is not the case.

While Turkish Cypriot dairy producers are hypothetically able to create a product which does not comply with PDO criteria and export it, they cannot by EU law call it halloumi or its Turkish name hellim.

Additionally, Greek Cypriot producers and any other producers are also able to do the same thing, since, in that case, it is a different product.