Foot-and-mouth disease: Lesvos cheese ban lifted amid tourist season
Lesvos Cheese Ban Lifted as Tourist Season Peaks
Poinews.com – Producers and small dairies on the Greek island of Lesbos have regained access to a substantial portion of their retail market after authorities removed a months-long restriction on carrying local dairy goods off the island. The decision arrives at a critical moment: summer brings thousands of holidaymakers who traditionally purchase mature cheeses from the island's pastures to bring home.
What the New Rules Allow
The Veterinary Directorate-General within Greece's Ministry of Rural Development and Food announced that private visitors may now transport dairy products aged beyond two months from Lesbos, whether departing by ferry or by aircraft. Such items are officially classified as "safe products" under the updated guidance. In practical terms, a tourist can walk into a local shop, select a wheel of aged cheese, and carry it onto a plane or boat without restriction.
The prohibition had been enforced for several months following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease among livestock herds on the island, which prompted a blanket ban on private transport of dairy items.
Political Pressure Behind the Reversal
The change followed sustained lobbying by the Lesbos Cheese Producers' Association, which pressed for the specific restriction to be removed. Regional governor of the North Aegean Kostas Moutzouris raised the matter directly with Deputy Minister of Rural Development Athanasios Kavvadas, urging that the dairy-transport ban be lifted while other foot-and-mouth controls remained in place.
In a public statement issued after the decision, Moutzouris welcomed the move:
"which brings Lesbos' livestock farming closer to normality and which must finally be freed from foot-and-mouth disease"
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