Lex trappist – lex cucumber

The latest such legislation can rightly be called the Hungarian cucumber curvature law. According to the regulation, only round-shaped cheese will soon be marketed under the name Trappist in Hungary, not cube-shaped ones. The similarity between the new Hungarian legislation and the 1988 EU regulation regulating the parameters of the snake cucumber (including its curvature) cannot be ignored.

The failed European cucumber curvature regulation (which was phased out in 2009) was criticized by many in Hungary. In comparison, that regulation was never as strict as our current cheese law: according to the lex trappista, a trappista with a cube shape is not a trappista, while the law on cucumber curvature only said that a curved snake cucumber could not be called first-class, but could still be a snake cucumber.

According to the National Trade Association, the lex trappista does not serve the interests of either Hungarian consumers or Hungarian producers. It does not serve the interests of consumers because it could push affordable products out of stores, so that cheese and sour cream pasta could be left without the trappista. However, for domestic producers, this is only an apparent – ​​and certainly temporary – protective umbrella. The real help would be if domestic agricultural policy helped Hungarian animal husbandry, milk production and processing to improve efficiency, so that the actors could produce more competitive products – even those that could be sold on international markets.

In contrast, according to a recent report by the Hungarian Competition Authority examining the price development of milk and dairy products, milk and dairy product prices in Hungary increased in 2024 mainly due to the increase in costs borne by suppliers. The GVH identified several of the increasing costs that were the consequences of some domestic economic policy measures (minimum wage increase, EPR fees, overhead costs).