“And in the cave, if we went in, we could see what’s inside.
Cheese balls are full and the pens are stacked
from goats and from lambs and separated sheep, early
elsewhere, medium elsewhere, and late elsewhere.

And all his vessels are full of curd,
vessels of kardares in which milk was milked.
Then the comrades scolded me with their persuasive words
some cheese to get in and back out.
(…)

he sat then and milked the goats and sheep
and the child of each was pinned below
and half, when the snow-white milk froze,
collect and put in wicker baskets…”

(Homer’s Odyssey, Rhapsody I, verses 218-250, trans. Z. Sideris, OEDB 1965)

Apparently, Homer could not imagine, when he described in the Odyssey how the Cyclops Polyphemus made white cheese from sheep and goat’s milk, that after about 3000 years the Spanish Attorney General of the Court of the European Communities (ECU and already CEC) would have mentioned the relevant passage in his proposals in support of the Greek origin of feta and its special existence and path throughout the history of our country.

And the customs officer, however, at noon on August 25, 1991, could not even imagine when, during a routine scheduled inspection in Piraeus, he opened boxes with 850 kg of cheese marked … “Danish feta cheese” and decided to confiscate them. , on the grounds that feta is just a Greek product, that feta’s adventures were just beginning in national and EU courts, in expert committees and in world markets…

Greece is required to take persistent aggressive action against foreign companies that use PDO feta and mislead consumers.

The origin of feta is lost in the mists of time, but it runs through the entire history of Greece to the present day. According to mythology, Zeus, who grew up on the milk of the goat Amalthea to make Hercules immortal, decided to give him divine milk for this and made the Universe flood with milk, filling the sky with galaxies. From this milk, Aristaeus, the son of Apollo, made cheese, and the gods of Olympus taught mortals the art of cheese making. White, soft cheese made from sheep’s or goat’s milk is mentioned by Homer, Aristophanes, Aristotle, Hesychius, Dioskurids, and others. In the Byzantine period, feta became known on Slavic sheets, and then on Ottoman ones.

Cheese is a staple food of the Western world and an important part of its cultural and culinary heritage. Numerous references to dishes accompanied by cheese are described in Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese literature by Cervantes, Rabelais, Calvino and Saramago. But it is worth mentioning the description of Italo Calvino in the novel Palomar about a Parisian cheese shop: “Behind each cheese is a pasture with its own greenery, its own open sky, meadows immersed in salt, blown by the Norman breeze. deposits every day, meadows soaked in the scents of the windy land of Provence, different herds with their own stables, herds that move according to the season, the secrets of cheesemaking passed down through the ages, this shop is a museum that, when Mr. Palomar visits, one feels like in the Louvre”, and, emphasizing the importance of a separate name for each cheese, notes: “This store is a dictionary …”.

The legality of the confiscation imposed by the Piraeus Customs after preliminary questions from the SC was discussed in the Court of Justice (C-317/95) on May 13, 1997, but no decision was made, since in the meantime, in accordance with regulation 1107/96, feta was registered as a product with protected designation of origin (PDO).

Denmark, Germany and France applied to the European Court of Justice and demanded the annulment of the ruling, arguing that the name “feta” has become a household name and that they can use it, since its quality and characteristics are not related to the geographical environment in which it is produced. . The European Court of Justice (C-289, 293, 299/96) annulled the registration of feta as a PDO because the reasoning contained in the ruling was not complete.

The Committee, after a new global analysis of historical, cultural, political, social, legal, economic, scientific and technical elements, decided to re-register feta as PDO in accordance with regulation 1892/02.

Denmark and Germany appealed the new ruling and made the same arguments as above. The European Court of Justice of 25.10.2005 dismissed the appeals (C-466/02 and C-465/02), fully accepting the arguments of Greece and the committee, which argued that feta cheese met the conditions for registration as a traditional PDO product. And this is because its quality and characteristics are due to natural and human factors, and the name feta is not in common use, but is closely related to Greece, its cultural traditions and Greek culture.

At the same time, three appeals by foreign companies and confederations were filed with the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (ECJ, already GDEE) (cases T-370/02, T-397/02, T-381/02). ), against the validity of Regulation 1829/2002, which was rejected as inadmissible, with the provisions of 6 July 2004 and 13 December 2005, since the Regulation is a measure of general force, has legal effects in general and in the abstract and does not concern or affect applicant companies individually, directly and in person.

Danish companies continued to market their white cheese under the names “feta” and “Danish slice”, arguing that the regulation only applied to products sold within the Union and not in third countries where the name was not protected. The Committee, after the Danish authorities refused to put an end to this practice, initiated an infringement procedure and filed an appeal with the CJEU on 04/08/2020.

The Court (C-159/20), by its decision of 07/14/2022, accepted the appeal of the European Commission and actions in its favor of Greece and Cyprus and ruled that it is forbidden to produce and export cheese with the name “feta”. “in Denmark, even if this cheese is destined for third country markets, since this action constitutes an exploitation of the reputation of PDO Feta, which is produced only within the demarcated territory of Greece with legally established traditional specifications, and that Denmark, without taking measures to prevent and stop such use in its territory or for export, violated its obligations under the provision to protect PDO and PGI as intellectual property rights.

The aforementioned CEC decision removes the backlog that existed in the protection of feta cheese, gives a strong impetus to its production and marketing outside European borders, but at the same time emphasizes the responsibility of the state to control companies that produce feta cheese. PDO feta cheese, to avoid fraud and misleading the consumer.

However, it also highlights the responsibility of the EU, which should monitor the free trade agreements it concludes with third countries for the mutual protection of PDO and PGI, and intervene administratively or even judicially when necessary (for example, in Singapore, despite then, was registered in 2019 and there are infringements by American companies in the Industrial Property Organization) always in cooperation with the Member State concerned. Constant vigilance and careful monitoring of the global market is still required in cooperation with the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food (YPAAT), the State Legal Council (NSK), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Hellenic Dairy Association (SEVGAP). ) with persistent aggressive actions against foreign companies using PDO feta and misleading consumers. Feta has secured its protection in Japan and China, but it still has problems in Canada, South Africa, Australia, Vietnam, and has been burdened with tariffs in the US.

At the same time, the “message” of the slice connects the reorganization and reorientation of our agri-food sector with a more general reflection developing on the impact of agricultural activities on ecological ecosystems, on sustainable and sustainable development, on the preservation of the rural landscape, the desertification of the countryside, the increase in the agricultural labor force, the “contract” agriculture, alternative crops, incentives for young farmers to make the agricultural profession attractive with the ultimate goal of food. quality, safety and hygiene and a fair income from the farmer. But it also imposes an orientation from agriculture of quantity to agriculture of quality, from anonymous mass products to branded quality products of the Greek land, such as feta cheese, olive oil, Kalamata olives, Chios mastic, Aegina pistachios, Corinthian raisins, Kozani saffron, organic and certified fruits and vegetables, etc., which are the most recognizable Greek passports for the markets of the world…

Note: Fet cases are handled by the Special Legislative Unit of the Union of the State Legal Council under the Ministry of the Interior and Communications, established in accordance with article 14, paragraph 10 of law 2227/1994.

* Mr. Ioannis – Konstantinos Chalkias is the Honorary President of the Legal Council of the State.