A crucial meeting involving all stakeholders in the production of halloumi is expected to take place within April under the auspices of the President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides. This comes in the wake of decisive announcements made at the European level regarding the future of Cyprus’s traditional halloumi product.
As Minister of Agriculture’s, Rural Development, and Environment, Maria Panayiotou told CNA, the Council of Agriculture Ministers approved a new regulation on geographical indications and quality schemes on March 26. The regulation is set to be published in the official journal of the EU in the coming days and will take immediate effect.
Panayiotou noted that this regulation includes a provision for extending the transitional period regarding the use of geographical indications, a request made by the Republic of Cyprus in September 2022.
“In practice, this means that the possibility to determine the proportion of milk used for halloumi production through a decree approved by the Ministry of
Energy, Commerce, and Industry is extended until 2029, instead of July 2024,” she said.
Panayiotou highlighted that this extension was also a request and part of an agreement reached among cheese producers, cattle breeders, and sheep and goat farmers in July 2022. The current decree sets the proportion of goat and sheep milk in halloumi production at 25%.
“The government’s decisions regarding halloumi will be announced following a meeting chaired by the President of the Republic within April, in which all stakeholders in the halloumi production sector, including sheep and goat farmers, cattle breeders, and cheese producers, will participate,” she added.
Panayiotou also stated that the government will proceed to announce its decisions on the basis of recent milestones such as the General Court of the EU decision regarding halloumi as a protected designation of origin (PDO) and the extension granted on the quota issue.
Source: Cyprus News Agency