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The assurances of Minister of Agricultural Development Athanasios Tsaftaris that Greece will defend Greek feta as a product with protected designation of origin and will not yield this right to Canada did not convince the deputies of all parties.

Members of the ruling coalition and the opposition criticized the government's actions, urging it not to ratify the final text of the CETA agreement, signed between the European Union and Canada on 18 October as, in their view, it cedes the rights over protected Greek products.

Tsaftaris who informed the parliamentary commission responsible for the development of the issue of Greek feta said that there was a misunderstanding, stating that the contents of the agreement do not refer to the importation of goods from Canada to Europe but to Canada’s internal market.

The Minister of Agriculture also pointed out that Greece is making constant efforts to clarify the situation. As he said, after the personal intervention of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, the signing of the preliminary agreement between the European Union and Canada in Moscow had been postponed.

"The negotiations continue and we are determined to fight to the end. Something is being approved and something is being rejected during negotiations. I do not believe that they will spoil an agreement worth over 20 billion euro", said Minister Tsaftaris and added the following:

"Those who are going to produce feta from this point onwards are prohibited from using the name ‘Greek’ or symbols that would mislead the consumer that this is a Greek product. It is mandatory to indicate the country of origin of cheese. Those who are already producing feta will not be deprived of the right to indicate the word ‘feta’. However they will be required to indicate that the product is of Canadian origin and will not be able to put misleading symbols to indicate a Greek product."

The Minister of Agriculture, who does not exclude the possibility of the negotiations raising the issue of other products with protected designation of origin, such as ‘kalamon’ olives, said the following:

"We could insist on amending the agreement by requesting a transitional period of 1-2 years until the already manufactured products are purchased. The Council for Foreign Trade, and the Council of Europe and the European Parliament may begin to fight as well. It will be difficult to pass the agreement if the specific symbols are not eliminated."

Tsaftaris’ statement that he had informed the Deputy Minister of Agricultural Development, Notis Mitarakis, who is responsible for the commercial export, caused a commotion and the deputies had immediately demanded to be informed.

"It is impossible for us to present this agreement as successful when we are assigning the right over the name and national symbols of Greek feta, thus affecting 48 districts in the country and destroying 480,000 Greek producers. Someone must report on this", George Kasapidis, an independent deputy, said and added,

"People do not understand that the losses will come after 2015. We should ask Notis Mitarakis to inform us on the position of the country and to present the list of products that Canada wants to export to Europe. Neither that list nor the final version of the agreement has been made ​​public, which is suspicious. Doesn’t Mr. Mitarakis know that it is a matter of life and death whether the name of Greek feta and ‘kalamon’ olives are included in the agreement? Those who tried to deceive us must take responsibility. We expect that you and the Prime Minister will fight to the end, without accepting this agreement, for the sake of old or future producers."

PASOK deputy Thanos Moraitis stressed the danger of Greece losing the battle in the negotiations if it does not have a complete plan and allies within the European Union.

Here the Minister of Agricultural Development urged the deputies not to dramatize the situation, because, as he said, Greece exports only 10% of the produced Greek feta, and expressed the wish for the country to double that percentage. "The designation ‘feta’ has been certified, there is a free market within the European Union that we have the opportunity to cover", added Tsaftaris.

SYRIZA deputy Thanassis Petrakou responded violently by stressing that "the road is open for other countries to adopt the name 'feta'." "The government is to blame for having agreed to begin negotiations with Canada and to include the issue of Greek feta. We do not care whether Notis Mitarakis has listened to you or if he has not done his job well. The government should veto the final agreement", said Petrakis.

"If we fulfil everything we will eventually import feta from Canada. That is enough. We must try, even with a legal action, to protect our national products", commented in turn Danis Dzamdzis, a deputy of New Democracy.

"We should not allow anyone to use the symbols of our national products, thereby endangering the viability of our stock farming and 400,000 Greek stock breeders", said Nicky Founda, a deputy from the Democratic Left.

Nikos Moraitis, a deputy from the Communist Party of Greece, said that the agreement "will have significant consequences for Greek farmers", adding that the two Greek products are not only unprotected, but they are also underrated because of the European Union."

Yiannis Lambropoulous, a deputy from New Democracy, noted the need to seek allies in the European Union "in order for us to be able to fight properly".

Independent deputy Parris Moutsinas stressed, "The Ministry of Agricultural Development has no plan", adding that "the government was obliged to put a veto if it saw that the national interests were threatened."