Government seeking EU compromise on gbejniet

The Maltese government is seeking to exempt small producers of gbejniet (cheeslets made from goat's milk) from EU regulations requiring the testing of milk used for manufacturing cheese.

"We are at present still discussing this situation with the commission to find a possible compromise with the European Commission," a spokesperson for Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes told MaltaToday.

An audit by the EU Commission's Food and Veterinary Office recently revealed that no samples of raw milk are collected and checked for bacteria counts in any of the sheep and goat holdings which produce gbejniet.

The Parliamentary Secretariat for Agriculture insists that there is no need for the testing of the milk, because all the animals concerned are tested twice a year for brucellosis. Malta has been free of brucellosis since 2006.

The secretariat also describes the production in each of these holdings as "minimal".

Malta currently has 900 remaining small farms with 10 or fewer milking ewes or goats and producing gbejniet in small quantities. There are 290 farms having more than 10 milking ewes or goats.

In fact what the government is seeking from the commission is derogation for small units with "limited marketing and distribution only within local areas".

The FVO report states that only one large farm with a gbejniet production facility has requested approval to allow trade with other member states.

The FVO's audit states that despite the guarantees provided in response to recommendations made in 2010, only one approved dairy establishment was checked for total bacteria count (TBC).

The TBC results seen during the audit conformed to regulations and were well below EU limits.

In January, government officials informed the FVO that these establishments would be registered, but a proposed national derogation has been presented to the commission and the other member states to exempt them from other EU regulations.

This has not been approved. In May the government informed the FVO that Malta "endeavours to regularise this issue as soon as discussions with the commission are concluded".