Feta cheese received Protected Designation of Origin status from the European Union in 2002. The registration took effect on 15 October 2002 under Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1829/2002.
The date followed a long legal dispute. Greece first sought EU protection in 1994, and feta was registered in 1996, but the Court of Justice annulled that decision because the European Commission had not adequately assessed whether “feta” had become a generic name. After a new investigation, the Commission re-registered it in 2002, and the Court upheld the protection in 2005.
Under the EU rules, feta must be produced traditionally in mainland Greece or the Lesbos region. It must use sheep’s milk, or a mixture containing no more than 30% goat’s milk from the same area, and it must mature in brine for at least three months.
The commonly chosen alternatives are tied to different stages: 1996 was the first registration, while 2005 was the later court confirmation. Neither is the year the PDO status was granted.