The authors of the SEVGAP announcement, who irresponsibly lay blame on the Foreign Ministry for inadequate protection of the Greek origin of feta, within the framework of the negotiations on the EU-South Africa trade agreement, appear to have a short memory and to be poorly informed.
They forget that the regulations to date on the protected designation of feta were provided for in the EU-South Africa agreement that was initialed by the European Commission in July 2014, during the term of the then government.
The reality of the situation is that – on the initiative Foreign Minister Kotzias, as well – the matter was raised anew in negotiations and the conditions now exist for securing a more favorable regulation that will more effectively protect feta, which is an export Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) product of national significance.
May 30, 2016