PDO halo marketing problems continue No check on quota and specifications They only checked the markings "The agreement is being applied as it goes", the president of the Cyprus Times tells the Cyprus Times
By Nicolas Petros Kaparti
There is no end to the problems with regard to the marketing of PDO haloumi in the Cypriot market, with the agreement signed by cow, sheep and goat farmers and cheese makers with the Ministry of Agriculture being violated and applied at will.
In a statement to the Cyprus Times, AKEL MP and chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Giannakis Gavriel, points out that the situation with halloumi is deteriorating, indicating that there are no controls. "The Ministry of Agriculture has admitted that they did not do any control except for the markings, as well as the Ministry of Commerce for exports," he noted.
Gavriel explained that at yesterday's meeting of the Committee, they called the relevant agencies to inform them because of the above concerns. "From what we were told," he continued, "there was no check on the quota and other specifications contained within the agreement and there was a check whether there were PDO markings on the strawberries in the market. In other words, no one has checked the content of the product so far, so at the moment we don't know what kind of halloumi we are eating."
Cheese makers and goat farmers
At the same time, Mr. Gabriel suggests that the worst thing is that those who signed the agreement are not abiding by it, since cheese makers and goat and sheep farmers have not withdrawn the legal actions they brought against the PDO.
In particular, the Legal Service informed the Commission yesterday that by the end of the year, one of the many lawsuits brought against the file will be heard by the European Court of Justice.
"So there is one month left and the Ministry has done nothing to withdraw the lawsuits. Article 5 of the agreement - which we have from publications and they refuse to hand over to us - provides for the withdrawal of the lawsuits."
The chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture also points out that the Ministry had pledged to give 10 cents per litre to sheep and goat farmers and did neither and postponed it until the end of the year. "The agreement is being implemented at will," he concludes."
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