THE STATUS of halloumi cheese, hanging in the balance for years, was yesterday definitively settled after lawmakers agreed to send the ‘halloumi file’ to the European Union.
In the European Union, halloumi is protected as an appellation of origin and has been registered as a trademark in the U.S. and Canada. However, the safety of the patent was brought into question due to a local dispute over the product’s recipe.
Mainly because of a shortage of milk, some insist that halloumi should be made of sheep and goats milk only, while the dairy industry argues that cows’ milk should be blended.
A ruling by the Attorney-general’s office further complicated the issue. Under that ruling, goat and ewe milk should be at least 51 per cent of the mix. The matter has been bouncing from government department to parliamentary committee and back for seven years now.
The law passed by parliament yesterday finally clears the way for the file to be sent to the EU. Though the application says that goat and ewe milk should prevail, it does not specify the proportions.
Commerce Minister Antonis Paschalides said the government’s top priority was to ensure halloumi exports.
He said demand for the cheese from merchants abroad was very high.
“No matter how much halloumi we produce, we shall be able to sell it and at very good prices. That is what’s important. The issue of the proportions has caused nothing but problems so far,” Paschalides said.
Angered at the news, sheep farmers yesterday threatened to dump milk outside the building of the Commerce Ministry building.
The head of their association Panayiotis Constantinou said that sheep farmers would be driven out of business.
“Without the quotas, anyone can make halloumi using whatever kind of milk they like. Despite assurances that the quotas would be kept in place, the decision clearly serves the interests of the few and the powerful,” he said, alluding to the dairy farmers.
“We are prepared for anything,” he warned. “They leave us no choice but to contest the [halloumi] file with the European Union.
“To hell with it. We are already ruined as it is. If halloumi is to be lost as well, then so be it, we don’t care anymore.”
