ABSTRACT
The chapter places the European Union’s food quality label ‘Protected designation of origin’ (PDO) within the framework of agri-environmental governance and explores the effects of its implementation in the Republic of Cyprus as a case-in-point. Subsequent applications by the national authorities to the European Commission, to attain a PDO for halloumi, a traditional cheese product unique to the island of Cyprus, were met with considerable opposition at home from large-scale, export-oriented cheese makers. The ensuing conflicts about the proper ingredients that go into this cheese, and the tensions that arise with other objectives of agri-environmental governance, namely biodiversity maintenance, environmental quality and sustainable development, are analysed within the framework of critical policy studies and assemblage theory.
