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The Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Dr. Lefteris Avgenakis, on the sidelines of the EU Council of Fisheries and Agriculture Ministers held in Brussels, during which she requested the assistance of the Greek authorities to address the phenomenon of "baptism" of potatoes of non-Cypriot origin as Cypriot potatoes in the Greek market.
In the context of the meeting, the Minister mentioned to the Greek Minister the very serious consequences for Cypriot potato producers of the phenomenon of potatoes of other origins being marketed in Greece as Cypriot potatoes. At the same time, she stressed the negative impact of this phenomenon on the country's economy and asked for the assistance of the Greek authorities in order to deal with it effectively. The Greek Minister accepted the Minister's request and they jointly decided:
1. P.P.C.: "The Greek authorities have agreed to further increase the measures taken to prevent the phenomenon. 2. Increase of controls, so that when potatoes are detected in the Greek market for which it is claimed that they have been "dubbed" as Cypriot, all Greek public services are immediately mobilized to confirm the incident.
3. Impose dissuasive sanctions on retailers who infringe. 4. Identify the establishments that package and promote these potatoes on the market with the indication 'of Cypriot origin'.
It is noted that the Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment has been receiving complaints in recent years about the sale on the Greek market of consumption potatoes with the indication 'of Cypriot origin', when in fact they do not come from Cyprus, thus misleading the consumer and discrediting the Cypriot product in question.
The Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment has been receiving complaints in recent years about the sale on the Greek market of consumption potatoes with the indication 'of Cypriot origin', when in fact they do not come from Cyprus, thus misleading the consumer and discrediting the Cypriot product in question. In order to solve the problem, the Department of Agriculture was in constant communication, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Athens, with the competent Greek authorities.
During 2022, targeted inspections were carried out by the Hellenic Financial Crime Squad (SDOE) in cooperation with the Control Service (Agronomy) of the Ministry of Rural Development, at various stages of the commercial chain (traders, distributors, collection warehouses, etc.) to investigate these complaints. However, it has not been possible to identify such cases that would lead the SAOE to impose dissuasive sanctions to combat this phenomenon. Therefore, the further increase of the measures and controls requested by the Minister became imperative to effectively address the problem.
The Department of Agriculture has, in parallel, started a cooperation with the General Chemistry Department of the State of Cyprus (GCH) for the characterisation of the Cypriot potato, with the aim of creating an Isotope Data Base for the authentic Cypriot potato using the stable isotope techniques SNIF-NMR and IRMS. The creation of the Isotopic Data Base for the authentic Cypriot potato will assist future sampling cases to investigate claims of "baptism" of potatoes of either Greek or other origin as Cypriot. The General State Laboratory is able to receive samples of potatoes sold in the Greek market as Cypriot for confirmation of their origin.
(EN)
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