Denmark has breached European Union law by failing to prevent local companies from making and exporting outside the EU white cheese labeled as “feta,” an adviser to Europe’s top court said on Thursday, greekcitytimes.com reports.
The opinion by Advocate General Tamara Capeta at the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) came three years following the European Commission, the EU’s executive, who sued Denmark over the issue.
“Feta” has been a registered Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) since 2002 in the EU and can only be produced in Greece based on a set of production specifications.
Greece says feta is its cultural heritage because it has made sheep and goat milk cheese for 6,000 years.
“By failing to stop the use by Danish producers of the registered name ‘Feta’ for cheese intended for export to third countries, Denmark has failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law,” Capeta noted.
She dismissed Denmark’s argument that an export ban could be seen as an obstacle to trade.
“The main idea behind that regulation is the improvement of the situation of EU agricultural producers through providing intellectual property protection to products involving traditional ways of production,” Capeta pointed out.
The CJEU, which will rule in the coming months, follows such non-binding recommendations in four out of five cases.
The case is C-159/20 Commission v Denmark.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC-BY-SA Copyright: Jpatokal
