Feta is designated as a traditional Greek product.
Brussels:
Greece won a victory on Thursday in its fight to protect their right to the term ‘feta’ when Europe’s highest court reprimanded Denmark for not blocking local businesses from using the name for sale outside the European Union.
Greece claims feta as part of its cultural heritage as it has been making cheese from sheep and goat milk for 6000 years.
The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) agreed with her position.
“By not stopping the use of the designation ‘feta’ for cheese intended for export to third countries, Denmark has failed to fulfill its obligations under EU law,” the judges said.
In the case brought by the European Commission and supported by Cyprus, Denmark argued that an export ban could be seen as a trade barrier.
Feta has been designated by the EU executive as a traditional Greek product since 2002, giving it legal protection in the 27-nation bloc. The CJEU had endorsed the label in 2005.
The problem is more than just national pride for Greece, which produces about 120,000 tons of feta annually.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
