Halloumi Monitoring Committee makes move to protect exports

The decision of the Halloumi Monitoring Committee to extend the 15% quota on mixed Halloumi until the end of February proves that it is fulfilling its mission to the fullest.

One of its goals is to safeguard exports of PDO Halloumi, with the President of the Republic and the Minister of Agriculture upholding their commitment not to jeopardise our country's first exportable product and by extension the domestic economy and jobs in the sector.

The Monitoring Committee for Halloumi, chaired by the CCCI, with the participation of all stakeholders in the sector as well as the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Dr. Maria Panayiotou and the competent officials, was established with the aim of protecting our national product.

The objectives of this important Committee, in addition to safeguarding existing exports and further expanding them, are the preservation and use of all milk produced, as well as the preservation of the 15,000 and more jobs in the sector.

The numbers revealed the truth

The decree that was in force until recently increased the quota of goat and sheep milk in mixed Halloumi from 15% to 30% as of 1 February. An increase that was wrong from the start since it was not based on officially recorded data.

The repeated suggestion to record goat and sheep milk so that any quota is based on the actual available quantity, seems to have finally been heard and the numbers for the previous months - October, November, December 2024 - demonstrated the reality.

That no matter how much some insist, there is not a sufficient quantity to cover both existing exports and the needs for products produced exclusively with goat and sheep milk, despite the government subsidies and incentives given in this direction.

Therefore, at the Committee meeting held last Saturday, 25 January, it was decided that the quota would remain at 15% until the end of February, while next month, during the new meeting, the next steps would be jointly decided.

The only objection was from the representative of the sheep and goat farmers, who insisted on the implementation of the existing decree and the increase in the quota to 30%, without, however, basing his opinion on arguments.

The state's commitment to safeguarding exports

Despite the fact that the previous decrees were not based on officially recorded data, it seems that things are now starting to move in the right direction.

And this is none other than the preservation of Halloumi exports, as according to the data recorded so far for 2024, in the first eight months, exports in quantity were 31,021 tons compared to 28,379 tons in the first eight months of 2023, with a value of €239 million.

Both the President of the Republic and the Minister of Agriculture herself had previously emphasised that the government's goal is to maintain Halloumi as Cyprus's leading export product.

With the Commission's decision, this is currently achieved, while the same applies to the utilisation of all milk produced in Cyprus, as well as the preservation of jobs in the sector.

Following this positive development, the challenge now is for the stakeholders involved in the Halloumi sector to continue working collectively and in unison, with the sole aim of ensuring that the interests of Halloumi prevail, for the good of the Cypriot economy and our country.

(Source: InBusinessNews)