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PRODUCERS, farmers, livestock breeders and manufacturers operating in the hellim sector held an event near the Ledra Palace checkpoint last Friday.
They called on the European Commission to consider the rights of the Turkish Cypriot community.
The Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Industry, Cyprus Turkish Farmers Union, Dairy Products Manufacturers Association, Cyprus Turkish Livestock Producers and Breeders Association and the Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Agricultural Engineers attended the event.
They voiced concerns over the fact that it is the Greek Cypriot authorities that have appointed the audit company that will carry out inspections.
To draw attention to the hardships experienced with the Green Line Regulations, the attendants chose the checkpoint as the place to grill hellim over a barbecue and hand out hellim sandwiches.
They also prepared a letter written to Mario Nava, DirectorGeneral of the European Commission’s Structural Reform Support Service, to hand in to the EU’s Helpdesk but no-one was there to collect it.
The letter emphasised the importance of an independent certification company when there are many obstacles and difficulties in trade via the Green Line due to the attitude of the Greek Cypriot side.
IT’S THE most famous product of Cyprus and EU countries voted on Monday to give it a coveted food and drink quality mark. Hellim cheese — or halloumi in Greek — will join the likes of Champagne, Stilton cheese and Jersey Royal potatoes as an EU “Protected Designation of Origin” (PDO) product. The PDO status means that a product can only be produced in the geographical area to which it has the strongest links and to strict specifications. The European Commission gives the example of Kalamata olive oil, which is “entirely produced in the region of Kalamata in Greece, using olive varieties from that area”. However in Cyprus the PDO application for the versatile, rubbery hellim, submitted unilaterally by Greek Cypriot officials, has become mired in political rows.
Because of the EU’s failure to implement direct trade with North Cyprus, Turkish Cypriot producers will only be able to export to the EU via the “Green Line” — meaning Greek Cypriot authorities will have the final say over what can or cannot be sold.
Meanwhile Greek Cypriot cheese makers fear that they will be undercut by “cheaper” hellim from the TRNC, while both sides’ producers are concerned about their ability to increase production of sheep and goats milk by 2024 so that it makes up at least 51 per cent of hellim content. Mostly cows’ milk is used in commercially produced hellim.
The first application for the geographic registration of hellim was made in 2006 by Greek Cypriot authorities for their producers.
But it was only in 2014 when the application for hellim to be a PDO product was filed by the EU for Cypriot producers, Greek and Turkish, under the EU quality law No 1151/2012.
In July 2015 then TRNC President Mustafa Akıncı and Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades reached a
“common understanding” on a “temporary solution for Halloumi/Hellim” under the “guidance” of then European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who said at the time: “Halloumi/ Hellim cheese symbolises the shared heritage of the island of Cyprus. It is a tradition which has linked the communities living here for centuries.”
An EU spokesperson told Cyprus Today this week: “Following the positive votes of Member States, the adoption procedure of the legal text [of the PDO] can be launched. The adoption and publication are expected mid-April.”
Mr Anastasiades hailed the PDO decision on Twitter with his reactions in Turkish, Greek and English.
“A milestone day for Halloumi/ Hellim and our country,” he wrote.
“The EU has registered it as PDO. A shield of protection is now in place. Significant prospects for increasing exports of our national product, to the benefit of all Cypriot producers, Greek and Turkish.”
The EU vote had been due to take place on March 26 but was delayed to Monday, March 29, because “electronic voting wasn’t preferred” according to the Greek Cypriot party Akel’s Turkish Cypriot MEP Niyazi Kızılyürek, who ran a “consultation process” with local hellim producers in the days leading up to the vote.
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with the EU Coordination Centre, relevant chambers, producers’ unions and other stakeholders, “has taken necessary initiatives to protect the rights and interests of” hellim producers in the TRNC, it said in a written statement.
It was noted that the final form of the two regulations have yet to be shared with the TRNC Presidency.
In addition, their requests to “eliminate uncertainties regarding implementation”, such as how Bureau Veritas — which has not made any public statement on the matter — will carry out its duties and the lack of cooperation with TRNC authorities in determining which institution will carry out food safety audits, were also left unanswered.
“The Greek Cypriot side . . . has once again rejected our proposal for the required cooperation between the two parties,” the Presidency statement said, adding that TRNC officials will continue contacts with the European Commission on the matter.
Cyprus Turkish Farmers’ Union head Çavuş Kelle said that details of how the PDO process, which they approve, will work in practice have not been shared with them.
“We demanded that the health inspections be carried out by someone independent but found out that they will be performed by [a company] assigned by the Greek Cypriot side” Mr Kelle said, who argued that this can negatively impact hellim producers and farmers in the North.
Pointing to existing difficulties in exporting processed food items such as honey and the tahini-based sweet helva via the Green Line, he added: “Will a similar issue arise for hellim?”
Turgay Deniz, head of the Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Commerce, also voiced his concern that the “approved [PDO] text has not been shared with the Turkish Cypriot side or the chamber itself”.
It is of “great importance” that the two leaders on the island appoint an independent auditor, he added.