BRITAIN believes the European Commission could use halloumi as a confidence-building measure to improve Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot relations.
According to the Independent the British Foreign Office (FCO) told the European Commission that its ultimate verdict on Cyprus’ protected designation of origin (PDO) application for halloumi must “ensure that its decision takes due account of inter-community relations”.
The issue of halloumi and hellim which is the Turkish Cypriot name for the Cypriot cheese, is a bone of contention both for Greek Cypriot cattle farmers, and for the Turkish Cypriots themselves.
The Pancyprian Organisation of Cattle-Farmers (POA) has re-launched its attempt to register halloumi as a PDO product but object to the inclusion of hellim in the application. The Turkish Cypriot side objects to having the Greek Cypriot side unilaterally making a PDO application on their behalf for hellim.
The Independent claimed that Greek Cypriot officials had said their Turkish-Cypriot colleagues were more interested in “scoring political points” than looking after the interests of local dairy producers.
Cyprus Mail sources confirmed yesterday a confidential FCO briefing on the issue had stated that attempts to gain protection for halloumi could be used as a “confidence-building measure” that could improve relations between the two communities in Cyprus.
Speaking last week at the Chamber of Industry in the occupied areas, Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu called on officials to register the traditional products of Turkish Cypriots, which were “an inseparable part of their culture and life”. Otherwise the products could be lost as time goes by, or they could be taken by others, he said.
The Turkish Cypriot leader added that he was closely following the efforts for registering halloumi in the EU. Eroglu noted that Turkish Cypriot officials had brought up the issue of halloumi within the framework of confidence building measures with the Greek Cypriot side, but because of what he described as the Greek Cypriot side’s intransigent stance, there were no results.
Head of POA, Nicos Papakyriacou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that he did not believe halloumi could be used to help build confidence between the two communities. “We have provided Turkish Cypriots with free healthcare and benefits, is that not enough, they want to use halloumi to help reconciliation,” he said. Papakyriacou said halloumi and hellim were not the same product and that the previous government’s attempts to include hellim in the PDO application were a mistake. “If hellim and halloumi are seen as the same product then Turkish Cypriot producers can claim they have been making halloumi all these years which is absurd,” he added.
Cyprus’ previous attempts to gain PDO status for halloumi had broken down after disagreements emerged over the type and proportion of milk used. Agriculture Minister, Nicos Kouyialis, told farmers earlier this month that Cyprus was about to enter discussions with European Commission officials over the objections.
The Independent revealed that the Cyprus High Commission in London confirmed last week that the proposed PDO application had been raised with Turkish Cypriots during “bi-communal talks”, and later at a committee on economic and commercial matters.
“The Turkish Cypriot members of the committee responded by demanding the withdrawal of the application, the cancellation of the procedure and the launching of a new joint application, not through the competent authority,” a High Commission spokesman said.
“Regrettably the position of the Turkish Cypriot members remained unchanged, thus revealing an approach which was seeking to score political points rather than genuinely aiming best to serve the interests of Turkish Cypriot producers,” he concluded.
To compound the issue, the Court of Justice of the European Union rejected an appeal last week lodged by the Cyprus Milk Industry Organisation - the holder of the community collective trade mark Halloumi - against the judgment of the General Court of the European Union in connection with hellim.
In 2005, German company Garmo AG applied for the Community trade mark “Hellim” for dairy products. The Cypriot organisation filed a notice of opposition to that application which was rejected by the Board of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM).
The halloumi wars are being fought on at least two fronts; political and culinary