Dairy Farms Regulations

DAIRY FARMS [S.L.231.05 1 SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 231.05 DAIRY FARMS REGULATIONS 1st May, 1978 LEGAL NOTICE 28 of 1976, as amended by Legal Notice 98 of 1989. Title.1. The title of these Regulations is Dairy Farms Regulations. PART I GENERAL Interpretation. Cap. 231. 2. In these Regulations "the Act" means the Food, Drugs and Drinking Water Act; "to sell" includes to offer, expose or advertise for sale and to supply by way of compensation or otherwise. Issue, etc., of licence. Amended by: L.N. 98 of 1989. 3. (1) The Superintendent of Public Health shall not grant or renew a licence under article 40 of the Act in respect of a dairy farm if such dairy farm does not comply in every respect with the following provisions of these regulations. (2) The said Superintendent may also, at any time during the currency of any such licence as aforesaid, cancel such a licence if he finds that the dairy farm and the practices therein no longer comply with the said provisions. (3) The Superintendent of Public Health may, prior to the issue, or at any time during the currency of a licence granted in terms of these regulations, require the licensee or any member of his household or any other person working on the dairy farm, to s u b m i t h i m s e l f t o s u c h m e d i c a l e x a m i n a t i o n o r m e d i c a l investigations as he may deem appropriate, and it shall be the duty of any person in respect of whom such request is made, to submit himself to such examination or investigations. (4) The Superintendent of Public Health may refuse to grant or renew such licence, and may even cancel any such licence if there is refusal on the part of any person, in respect of whom such reques t i s made , to submit h imsel f to such examinat ion or investigations, or if it results that any such person is suffering or may be suffering from a disease communicable to the animals present on such farm, or to man. Farms used partly for habitation and partly as dairy farms. 4. When any farm is used partly for habitation purposes and partly as a dairy farm, the part used for habitation purposes shall have no direct communication with the other part or parts of the farm. 2 [S.L.231.05 DAIRY FARMS PART II CONSTRUCTION Construction of dairy farms requirements. 5. Any premises used as a dairy farm shall be in accordance with either of the following two systems: I. Cowshed system (cows, goats, sheep) (a) there shall be a floor space of not less than 366 cm by 137 cm for every cow and not less than 122 cm by 92 cm for every goat or sheep, such floor space to be distributed and used in such a manner as the Superintendent of Public Health shall approve in each case; the height from floor to ceiling shall at no place be less than 366 cm; (b) there shall be a window space of not less than one twelfth of the superficial area of the floor and at least two ventilating openings of the aggregate area of 15 square cm per cubic metre (one square inch per 15 cubic feet) of the space of the premises; the windows and the ventilating openings shall be so situated as approved by the Superintendent of Public Health; (c) the inner walls, including those of the milkroom, the calving pen and the calf pen, shall be well plastered and coated with impervious material up to a height of at least 244 cm. All other wall and ceiling surfaces shall be limewashed or painted at such times as may be necessary to keep the premises in a clean condition; (d) the floor shall be of impervious jointless material with the necessary fall to open channels draining into a gulley trap properly connected with the drains so as to prevent accumulation of liquid; (e) there shall be feeding and milking passages when these are considered necessary by the Superintendent of Public Health; (f) the premises shall be supplied with mains water and with electricity and shall have a water tank of not less than 909 litres; (g) the premises shall have a separate milkroom to be used for storing and cooling of milk and having the following minimum area: 11 square metres for any number of goats or sheep or for up to 40 cows; 14 square metres for herds of between 41 and 70 cows; 17 square metres for herds of above 70 cows; and such room shall be fly-proof and its floor shall be regularly drained; (h) the premises shall also have (i) in the case of cows, a separate room, to be used as a calving pen, of not less than 305 cm by 366 DAIRY FARMS [S.L.231.05 3 cm, and another separate room of the same dimensions, to be used as a calves pen, with separate spaces of not less than 122 cm by 152 cm by 152 cm high, for each calf, each such space having at least three solid walls, and (ii) in the case of goats and/or sheep, a separate room, to be used as a kidding pen, of not less than 305 cm by 305 cm and another separate room of the same dimensions, to be used as a kids’ pen, with separate spaces of not less than 92 cm by 61 cm by 92 cm high, for each kid, each such space having at least three solid walls: Provided that the Superintendent of Public Health may grant exempt ion f rom to ta l o r par t ia l compl iance wi th the provisions of paragraph (f) and/or (h) when he deems compliance therewith to be impracticable, subject to such conditions as he may deem fit to impose. II. Parlour system (cows only) (a) there shall be an exercise yard (the shape of which shall be in every case to the satisfaction of the Superintendent of Public Health) of not less than 6.25 square metres per milking cow without horns, and 10 square metres per milking cow with horns; but no such yard shall in any case be less than 50 square metres; (b) there shall be a covered yard of not less than 457 cm in width and 92 cm per cow in length and with a roof, with a minimum height of 300 cm from the door, sloped to end-located drains which shall drain into the water cistern; (c) the premises shall have (i) a collecting yard having an area of 1.5 square metres per cow, and which shall not be larger than 52 square metres unless the Superintendent of Public Health directs otherwise; (ii) a milking parlour of the following minimum dimensions: height 300 cm length 600 cm width 320 cm pitdepth 68 cm pitwidth 122 cm The space of the said milking parlour shall be subdivided into milkstalls one for every cow being milked, and the floor of the said milkstall shall slope away from the milker’s pit and shall have a herb 10 cm high and 8 cm wide. The said milking parlour shall also have not less than .5 square metre of window light or of roof light per milkstall. There must also be adequate artificial lighting. 4 [S.L.231.05 DAIRY FARMS (iii) A milkroom, a calving pen and a calves pen of the same dimensions as those specified in paragraph (g) and in paragraph (h)(i) of Part I of this regulation; (d) the collecting yard and the milking parlour shall be easily accessible from the exercise yard or yards; (e) the milkroom shall be easily accessible from the road and shall be adjacent to the milking parlour; (f) the floors of all yards, the milking parlour, the milkroom, the calving pen, the calves pen and all ramps and lanes within the premises are to be laid in not less than 10 cm thick concrete: Provided that the Superintendent of Public Health may allow other types of flooring of the exercise yard, ramps and lanes; (g) all floors shall have a 3% slope leading to impervious open channels which shall have a gradient of 2% and both floors and channels shall be regularly drained; (h) the milking parlour and the milkroom shall be fly proof and their interior walls shall be rendered in impervious material up to a height of 244 cm; all their other walls, their ceiling and other surfaces shall be lime-washed or painted as may be necessary to keep the premises in a clean condition; (i) the premises shall be supplied with mains water and with electricity and shall have a water tank of not less than 909 litres. Manure clamp. 6. (1) Every dairy farm shall have, or shall have facility to use, a properly designed covered manure clamp built in the form of a B a b e r ’ s t r a p , o f a s i z e a p p r o v e d i n e a c h c a s e b y t h e Superintendent of Public Health, for the dumping of animal drippings and other refuse. (2) The manure clamp shall be periodically cleaned to the satisfaction of the Superintendent of Public Health. PART III KEEPING AND PRACTICE Ventilation, etc. 7. Every dairy farm shall be kept well ventilated and clean. Use of straw, etc. 8. No straw or other material which has been used by a person or animal suffering from, or that has died of, tuberculosis, small pox or any other communicable disease shall be used for any purpose in any dairy farm. Communicable diseases. 9. (1) No milk produced by animals kept in premises in which a case of a communicable disease has occurred, and no milk kept in any such premises, shall be sold unless such sale has been authorised in writing by the Superintendent of Public Health. (2) No person shall knowingly use, or cause or allow, to be used, for any purpose in connection with milk or the production DAIRY FARMS [S.L.231.05 5 thereof any utensil that has been in the possession of any person affected with a communicable disease and which has not been disinfected. Clean clothing, etc.10. Every person engaged in the milking of animals or in the production, distribution or storage of milk for sale shall keep his person and his clothing in a clean condition. Cleaning of vessels, etc. 11. (1) Any vessel or other receptacle, lid or appliance which may come into contact with milk shall be thoroughly washed immediately after use, and shall be cleansed, and then scalded with boiling water or steam, or otherwise sterilised, before it is used again. (2) Every such vessel or other receptacle, lid or appliance shall, while not in use, be stored in a clean place and be protected from dust or dirt. (3) No such vessel or other receptacle, lid or appliance shall be used for containing, measuring, or applying any process or treatment to, any article other than milk or milk products. Protection against contamination. 12. Vessels and other receptacles containing milk for sale shall a t a l l t imes be kept properly covered and protected against contamination and deterioration, and shall not be deposited or kept in any place where the milk is liable to be contaminated or infected. Unfit vessels, etc.13. No person shall use, or cause or allow to be used, for the reception, measurement, storage or delivery of milk for sale any vessel or other receptacle the interior surface of which is incapable of being readily cleansed, or which is made of such material which may contaminate the milk. Recognition mark and cover. 14. (1) Every vessel or other receptacle used for the conveyance of milk for sale shall be distinctly marked with the name and address of the owner or of the vendor or with any other mark recognised by the Superintendent of Public Health. (2) Every such vessel or other receptacle shall be provided with an unhinged cover or lid, which shall be so constructed and fitted as to prevent the access to the milk of dirt, dust, or rain water. Removal of dung.15. Any milking room shall be kept free as far as possible from dung which shall be removed therefrom immediately after milking and at least once in every day and which shall be kept at such distance from the milking-room and from the milk room as the Superintendent of Public Health shall, in each case, direct. Prohibition of sale of certain milk. 16. No person shall sell (a) the milk of animals fed on poisonous or deteriorated fodder or on fodder capable of imparting to the milk a bad smell or flavour, or of any animals treated with any poisonous substance acting on the general system of milch animals; (b) any blue, red, bitter, viscous or putrid milk or any milk having an abnormal colour, smell or flavour, or any milk containing evident traces of excrement or being otherwise dirty; 6 [S.L.231.05 DAIRY FARMS (c) any sour milk or any milk that curdles when boiled; or (d) any milk containing less than three per centum of milk fat unless, when sold, it is declared to be skimmed or separated milk. Prohibition of certain animals from dairy farms. 17. No animal or poultry, other than cows, goats or sheep, shall be kept in any dairy farm or in any room directly communicated therewith. Milk cooling facilities. 18. The dairy farm shall be equipped with adequate milk cooling facilities: Provided that the Superintendent of Public Health may, after consultation with the Manager of the Malta Dairy Products, grant exemption from this regulation for a specified period of time.