Halloumi PDO was granted by the General Court of the EU

The General Court of the European Union decided on Wednesday to reject, in its entirety, the appeal of the company Papouis Dairies and other companies against the registration of the name "Halloumi" as a protected designation of origin.

As recalled in the announcement, the European Commission announced in April 2021 the registration of the name "Halloumi" / "Hellim" as a protected designation of origin (PDO).

In their appeal, the Cypriot company Papouis Dairies Ltd, as well as other applicants (T-361/21), asked the General Court of the EU to annul the Commission's implementing regulation. With today's decision, the GDEE rejected the appeal in its entirety.

In its decision, the GDEE states that the Commission, when examining whether the registration of a name as a PDO meets the conditions of Union law, is not required to check whether the production method of the product described in the application for registration is in accordance with a pre-existing national standard for the production of.

However, as noted, in any case the registration application for halloumi does not conflict with the national production standard at issue in this case.

According to the GDEE, this standard does not exclude the possibility that the ratio of goat's or sheep's milk, or their mixture, in this cheese exceeds the ratio of cow's milk.

The ECJ also rejects the argument that the Commission failed to establish the existence of manifest errors in the description of the link between the quality or characteristics of the product in question and its geographical environment of origin.

Furthermore, the GDEE rejected the argument that the Commission did not carry out an adequate analysis regarding the market for the production of hallumin and the situation of the companies that market the specific product.

Finally, the ECJ points out that, although the Commission must determine the consequences of the annulment by a national court of an act issued by the national authorities in the context of the national stage of the registration procedure, this annulment does not entail the automatic invalidity of the act of registration issued by the Commission.

Source: KYPE