BERLIN -- Switzerland will import more cheese than it exports this year for the first time, according to the head of the country's dairy association.

The opening up of the Swiss milk market has put a squeeze on domestic producers in recent years, prompting some to give up, Boris Beuret told Geneva-based newspaper Le Temps in an interview published Saturday.

Beuret said measures need to be taken to ensure Switzerland — famous worldwide for high-quality cheese varieties such as Gruyère and Emmentaler — can continue to produce for its own population.

“If not, then we will end up importing (cheese), which would be absurd economically, socially and ecologically,” he was quoted as saying.