The Legal Service is expected to decide on the case of halloumi production and trade under the protection as product of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) only or whether the current situation of trading the product under its trademark will also continue.
Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis said that since 1 October when the PDO regulation has been implemented, the government signed a contract with an international organization that carries out checks. He noted that cheese makers should have traded the PDO product instead of citing legalistic issues and thus now they are waiting for a verdict by the Legal Service.
Sheep and goat farmers will today carry out a protest at 11.30 local outside the Presidential Palace, demanding the beginning of halloumi PDO production, as provided by the European legislation. All agricultural organizations are supporting the protest, noting that the ongoing increases in the prices of electricity, fertilizers, animal feed and so forth have brought the sector into a desperate situation and effective measures are immediately needed.
