The Coordinating Committee of Cattle Farmers stated in an announcement that no organised group of cattle farmers or individual cattle farmers can stand against the trademarks of halloumi cheese.
“No action from a consultancy or law firm binds the cattle farmers solely due to cooperation at another level,” they commented on a relevant article from the Phileleftheros newspaper dated 13/4/2024 titled “Government ends dialogue with cattle farmers.”
The said article refers to a proposal from the Ministry of Energy, Commerce, and Industry to President Christodoulides, following a recommendation from the Legal Service, aiming at the urgent need to address the actions of the representative of cattle farmers (POA)/Papouis company against the trademarks owned by the Republic of Cyprus and the Foundation for the Protection of Traditional Cypriot Cheese Named Halloumi.
The article notes that the Ministry opposes any further consultation with the cattle farmers until their advisor withdraws the cancellation requests for the trademarks owned by the Republic of Cyprus and the Foundation.
According to the Coordinating Committee of Cattle Farmers, “the legal cases of cattle farmers in the European Court, supported by all cattle farmers, concern the issue of PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) as it is well-known that historically we do not agree with the economically and commercially disadvantageous registration of halloumi cheese as PDO, not against the institution of PDO product registration. With these appeals, we are trying to protect our profession and sustainability.”
Concluding, the Coordinating Committee emphasises that they expect everyone to move in the direction set by President Christodoulides during their upcoming meeting, which took place on 8/2/2024, where the issue of legal cases concerning cattle farmers was raised by an official. The President’s response in front of everyone was clear: “We will find a solution, and the requests will be withdrawn.”
The position of the Coordinating Committee of Cattle Farmers:
In response to an article published on 13 April 2024 in the newspaper “Filileftheros” titled “Government ends dialogue with cattle farmers,” for accurate information, we note the following:
• Since the first meeting held with the President of the Republic on 8 February 2024 to find a solution to the issue of production and trade of Halloumi cheese, several articles have attempted to undermine the very positive atmosphere created at the said meeting, without us engaging with their content.
• Anticipating the much-publicised new meeting with the President, the aforementioned article was published, which tries to involve the POA and the factory with actions of their advisor regarding the commercial trademarks of Halloumi cheese.
• No organised group of cattle farmers or individual cattle farmers stand against the commercial trademarks of Halloumi cheese, and they have no relation to the references made in the article regarding the commercial trademarks. No action from a consultancy or law firm binds the cattle farmers solely due to cooperation at another level.
• Cattle farmers have not taken any action to dissociate Halloumi from Cyprus and to allow its production by anyone in any country worldwide. It is well-known that a long-standing cornerstone of our positions for a definitive solution to the issue is through the use of commercial trademarks. Indeed, a significant point of disagreement with the Government, which we are trying to resolve together, is that it still allows uncontrolled production of Halloumi or/and Hellim both at the EU level and elsewhere.
• The legal cases of cattle farmers in the European Court, supported by all cattle farmers, concern the issue of PDO (Protected Designation of Origin), as it is well-known that historically we do not agree with the economically and commercially disadvantageous registration of Halloumi cheese as PDO and not against the institution of PDO product registration. With these appeals, we are trying to protect our profession and sustainability.
• Until today, we have not perceived that the ethos of the President of the Republic is at the level of practices described in the article about pressure to withdraw legal cases. It would be a disgrace to prohibit citizens from defending themselves in court. Moreover, when the issue of legal cases concerning us was raised by an official during the aforementioned meeting, the President’s response in front of everyone was clear: “We will find a solution, and the requests will be withdrawn.” This is precisely what we, all cattle farmers, expect: a definitive solution to ensure the distribution of all Cypriot milk under sustainable conditions. We expect that in the upcoming meeting with the President of the Republic, we will all move towards this direction.
