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Bureau Veritas has been appointed as the control body in charge quality control of the island’s traditional ‘halloumi’ goat’s cheese, lifting the final obstacle for the semi-soft white cheese to secure the long awaited protected designation of origin (PDO).
This means that dairy producers on both sides of the island’s divide will be able to export their products freely and combat any attempt by cheese-makers in other countries to copy or label halloumi, or ‘hellim’, as their own.
The decision was announced by the European Commission in Brussels, a day after Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had a joint meeting with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci in Nicosia after he said that the deadlock on the subject had been broken.
Cyprus Agriculture Minister Nico Kouyialis had been shuttling back and forth to Brussels for just over a year, trying to raise political objections to the PDO, which had been hampering export opportunities for both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.
Exports from the Republic are estimated at about €85-90 mln a year, while hellim shipments from the Turkish Cypriot side are a fraction of that, but account for nearly 25% of all exports.
The PDO for halloumi, as well as issues such as mobile phone interoperability and the opening up of the Famagusta port in exchange for allowing Cyprus-flag vessels to dock in ports in Turkey, are some of the many ‘confidence building measures’ being discussed by Anastasiades and Akinci during the UN-mediate peace talks that attained a fresh momentum after the Turkish Cypriot leader was elected two months ago.
The EC announcement on Friday said that “a temporary solution to the common understanding on a temporary solution for Halloumi/Hellim, to be implemented pending the reunification of Cyprus, (has been) reached under the guidance of President Juncker on 16 July 2015.”
It said that “the internationally accredited body Bureau Veritas is appointed, in accordance with Article 39 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs, as the body in charge of the control tasks provided for by this regulation.”
It added that the reports made by Bureau Veritas will be sent to the competent authorities of the Republic of Cyprus and to the Commission, a bone of contention among some Turkish Cypriot producers who do not want any form of control by the Republic.
“A proposal to modify the Green Line Regulation, in order to facilitate trade, will be adopted by the Commission on the same day of the publication in the Official Journal of the formal application to get the registration of Halloumi/Hellim as a protected designation of origin on the basis of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. As foreseen by the EU Treaties, the Commission will ensure the full respect of the relevant EU law.”
