The Monitoring Committee on the renowned Cypriot white cheese, Halloumi, will convene for its first meeting in the last week of September, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment Maria Panagiotou has told CNA.

Panagiotou announced the Committee’s first meeting comprising representatives of all stakeholders in the Halloumi production process, as the association of cow breeders will hold a gathering on September 18 on the issue.

“Our actions and decisions taken lie withing the framework of the targets to keep Halloumi as our primary agricultural product and for the preservation of the product destination of origin (PDO) status, which secures the increase of exports and the preference of consumers both in Cyprus and abroad,” Panagiotou told CNA.

She also noted that apart from the checks carried out by the monitoring agency, Bureau Veritas, we have intensified checks both on sampling and administrative level.

The Minister also recalled the schemes to be launched to increase the production of goat and sheep milk and to support cow breeders to improve their infrastructure.

Furthermore, Panagiotou also pointed out the significant number of reports with the EU RASFF System (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed), to secure the quick response of the EU member-states when products that are not compliant with the Haloumi PDO specified ingredients.

“There are cases where following reports submitted by Cyprus, products named Halloumi have been removed from supermarket shelfs as they were not compliant with the PDO specifications,” she said.

A decree issued by the Minister stipulates that from February 1, 2025, to August 31, 2025, the quota for goat and sheep milk in the Halloumi mixture will increase to 30% from the current 25%.