A team of experts of the Agriculture Ministry have got to work after receiving the nine objections from nations disputing Cyprus’ request to patent Halloumi cheese as an exclusive product of the island.

The formal objections are in the hands of ministry officials and the team of experts – that are expected to thrash out a compromise with the appellants over the coming months. In the event that no deal is reached, then the European Commission (where Cyprus’ request was made along with the objections) will need to rule on whether the island can patent the cheese as an EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)

The European Commission is not expecting any more objections even though the cut-off date is February 29, 2016.

Some of the objections have come from nations that even import Halloumi. The only EU nation to object was the UK but they retract, according to Phileleftheros newspaper, if the Halloumi bid is to also work as a confidence building measure for both the communities of the island during the Cyprus problem.

Apart from the UK, two non-EU countries, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, the UAE and the US have also lodged objections.

The commission last summer published an application for the registration of the name Halloumi / Hellim in Greek and Turkish as the protected name for the cheese produced throughout Cyprus. Phileleftheros noted that this was an important step in protecting the name on a Europe-wide level and adding it to the list of well-known, high-quality European products.