EIGHT halloumi factories have been approved by the European Union and certified to export to the EU, two years ahead of the 2003 deadline date for harmonisation.
That means the 2,600 tonnes of exported halloumi from Cyprus meets EU standards.
Experts from the Food and Veterinary Office, based in Dublin, visited Cyprus in December to tour the 150 island’s halloumi-producing factories.
Just eight were given the coveted official approval – in the first-ever official EU inspection.
It is considered a bonus for establishments in candidate countries to meet EU regulations – an obligation only for full member states.
The EU’s food office is commissioned to check outfits in all member and candidate EU states.
The 142 who failed to come up to scratch will not be penalised until Cyprus becomes a full member of the EU.
“They don’t export anyway. Eventually, they will have to comply,” said the senior officer at the Veterinary Department, Andreas Orphanides.
Public money is likely to be made available to help smaller industries meet the grade. No facility for providing that money has yet been set up.
Europe, however, is a smaller halloumi market than the Middle East, where halloumi heavyweights, Pittas Dairy Industries, say most of their produce goes.
Two Pittas factories are among the eight approved.
The Veterinary Department is currently issuing export certificates to the eight factories.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
