(GENEVA) - A long battle came to a close on June 1 when the European Union and non-member Switzerland formally removed barriers to the trade in cheese, a product that stimulates national pride and commercial acumen as much as tastebuds.

Smelly, soft French cheeses -- and other EU varieties -- and hard Swiss cheeses with or without holes will be sold in shops on each side of the border on equal terms from now on, without being weighed down by import tariffs or buoyed by export subsidies.

The tiny Alpine nation is counting on its traditional rural cheesemaking skills and some renowned names to resist an invasion of cheaper Camembert, Gorgonzola, Gouda or Manchego from the 27-nation EU.

Emmental -- and its famed holes -- Gruyere and Appenzell were already thriving abroad, well before Swiss producers could benefit from more competitive pricing in shops in their biggest European export markets.

"We believe the opening of the markets presents us with greater opportunities than risks," said Ruth Stadelmann Kohler, a spokeswoman for Emmi, the largest Swiss dairy firm, with an eye on the EU's 370 million consumers.

Cheese is Switzerland's top agricultural export. Last year, the Swiss sold some 56,068 tonnes abroad and imported just 33,346 tonnes of foreign cheeses, according to official trade data.

In Switzerland, patriotism reaches well beyond a typical winter fondue: local production accounts for 78 percent of the annual 20 kilogrammes (44 pounds) of cheese the Swiss eat.

However, some producers fear that the removal of tariff barriers and the resulting decrease in prices for foreign cheeses will ultimately nibble away at domestic production, especially industrial-scale mass produced cheeses.

Swiss-made 'French' Brie or 'Italian' mozzarella have the most to fear from foreign competition, rather than traditional Swiss varieties, according to Swiss agriculture ministry official Christian Haeberli.

The lifting of trade barriers on cheese was negotiated ten years ago and started to intervene in 2002 with a gradual lowering of import tariffs in Switzerland and the EU, he explained.

"Everything was prepared a long time ago. If there is some unease, it's only among those who were sleeping," Haeberli emphasised.

Francesca Heininger, a spokeswoman for Switzerland's cheese marketing board, said gourmet consumers of traditional Swiss cheeses "should continue to look for the kind of quality they've grown up with."

Swiss cheese will count on features like guaranteed labels of origin, unpasteurised milk and the traditional image of small scale farm production that produces less than eight rounds of cheese a day, she said.

More than a quarter of Swiss exports go to Italy (27 percent), which favours the holed Emmental, while Germany accounts for 24 percent of Swiss exports, favouring the smell of an Appenzell, according to the Swiss cheese producers organisation.

The French meanwhile, have tended to go for the flavour of Gruyere, but account for just 10 percent of Swiss exports.

Meanwhile, cheeses like Mozarella and Parmesan -- essential for pizza and pasta -- have helped Italy to take the lion's share of imports into Switzerland (47 percent) ahead of cheese from France (34 percent).

There are also signs that Swiss dairy producers are developing a flair for EU cheeses.

Last Wednesday, Emmi announced that it had acquired a 25 percent stake in Italian dairy firm Ambrosi, a major producer of Parmesan and mozzarella.

"Our strategy is to offer distributors a range of top flight cheeses without limiting ourselves to Swiss ones," Stadelmann Kohler said.

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