Cheese War Over

Slovakia will withdraw its veto on the registration of the Polish "oscypek" highlander cheese.

An agreement on the matter has been signed by Poland's deputy premier and agriculture minister Andrzej Lepper and his Slovak opposite number Miroslav Jurenia. Slovakia officially filed the veto with the European Commission on February 19th claiming it has for centuries been the producer of a similar type of cheese under the name of "osztiepok".

If Poland would receive the Recognized Certificate of Origin, Slovakian `osztiepok' could encounter serious barriers in export to other EU markets, Slovakia argued. However, the Polish side had been successful in explaining to its southern neighbors that a bilateral agreement of December 2005 effectively guarantees the two products and their brand names absolute independence of each other, having entirely different cow milk content and place of origin.

This allows for independent registration of the Slovak and Polish cheese product. The contentious cheese has been produced from times immemorial on both sides of the border in the Tatra mountain region with the initial differences becoming more visible, or rather palatable. The Slovak "osztiepok" variety is produced in seven selected dairy plants with Dutch and French capital participation.


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Source: Radio Polskie