The agriculture ministry presented 10 measures to boost goat and sheep milk production on Tuesday, aiming to bring halloumi into full compliance with its protected designation of origin (PDO) rules by the end of the transition period in July 2029.
A new method to detect illegal milk powder in halloumi will be officially delivered by the end of the year at the latest, the head of the State General Laboratory told the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
Andreas Grigoriou, director general of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, described halloumi PDO as a “national asset”, with annual exports of more than 350 million euros. The aim is full compliance with the EU file without disrupting the cheese’s export momentum, he said.
Committee chairman Giannakis Gavriel said the production and marketing chain has long-standing problems, and that support for goat and sheep farming has been announced repeatedly since 2014. He asked how the target of goat and sheep milk making up 50 per cent of halloumi by 2029 would be met, what is being done about production costs, how the ministry is handling the use of milk powder, and what progress has been made on complaints to the Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC).
Ten measures
On funding, goat and sheep farmers have received a one-off subsidy of two million euros, granted according to productivity as an incentive for investment that reduces seasonality. The annual headage subsidy, worth four million euros, will now be based on productivity rather than just the number of animals, to encourage milk production. Of the 67 million euros in the large investment scheme, 29 million euros goes to goat and sheep farming.
The government will also develop 26 large goat and sheep farms, each with more than 800 productive animals, on state plots already allocated to beneficiaries. The Agricultural Research Institute is running a research programme, AGRICIGEN, to improve the genetic pool of goats and sheep.
The quantity of cow’s milk used for halloumi PDO will be capped at 2024 levels, up to 234,000 tonnes a year or 19,500 tonnes a month.
Checks on producers who do not comply are being stepped up, and a bill tightening the law is already before parliament. A digital system will record and cross-check the goat and sheep milk delivered to industry, for transparency and targeted checks. The ministry is also running a programme to detect illegal use of milk powder in halloumi PDO with the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) and the State General Laboratory.
Two committees have been set up. An interdepartmental committee, chaired by the agriculture minister, includes the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, the Law Office of the Republic, the Foreign Ministry, the Department of Agriculture, the Customs Department and academic expert Photis Papademas of CUT. A monitoring committee, chaired by the president of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), includes cheesemakers, goat and sheep farmers, cattle farmers and farmers’ organisations.
Milk powder testing
CUT told the committee the detection programme is close to completion. Because it uses a new methodology, it said, a very robust database is essential to safeguard product quality and to check for any illegal additives. It described the overall effort as going well.
The State General Laboratory director, Revekka Kokkinofta, said samples considered authentic, as well as samples from other categories, have already been analysed to build the database needed to validate the new method, which combines several new techniques.
Grigoriou said contacts with cheesemakers, cattle farmers and goat and sheep farmers’ groups are continuing intensively. He added that securing halloumi’s PDO status is a non-negotiable goal for the state.
