The European Union’s top court has confirmed what most of the world already knows: Feta cheese is Greek, and no other country has the right to sell cheese using the term “feta.”
Specifically, the EU court ruled against Denmark and says the Scandinavian country has mislabelled its white cheese as “feta.”
The verdict comes as a big win for Greek feta producers, who have been fighting to protect the intellectual property right to use the term for dairy products.
Earlier this month the EU Court of Justice said Denmark has allowed local producers to continue exporting cheese to non-EU countries under the protected designation of “feta.”
In March, another top EU court advisor said Denmark had violated its obligations under EU law.
The court said Danish authorities should have “prevented and stopped such use on its territory.”
Greece claims that feta, made from sheep and goat milk, has been part of its cultural heritage for 6,000 years. The cheese was designated a traditional Greek product by the EU executive in 2002, giving it legal protection in the bloc.
Denmark believes banning its producers from exporting white cheese restricts foreign trade.
In 2005, the EU court ruled that only producers based in Greece reserved the right to call its sheep’s milk cheese “feta,” rejecting a German-Danish appeal.
But Denmark has since allowed its cheese producers to continue using the name when exporting the product outside the EU.
If the country refuses to comply with the latest ruling, the European Commission can appeal for fines.
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1 comment
OK about Denmark, but USA does not abide to any Greek and EU law about protected designation of origin. USA complains about China for these things, but USA is the greatest violator. The cheese with the feta name that sold over USA has nothing to do with real feta cheese, the same with Greek yogurt made with ingredients like corn starch, gelatin and other ingredients and they sell it as Greek yogurt.