Vol. 508 No. 3
172 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will provide a copy of the guidelines issued and the date of issue to authorised officers in relation to the interpretation of the requirements and code referred to in paragraph (1) of regulation 7 of the European Communities (Hygiene Production and Placing on the Market of Raw Milk, Heat-treated Milk and Milk Based Products) Regulations, 1996 (SI No. 9 of 1996). [19064/99]
173 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of instances where a milk production holding did not meet the requirement and code referred to in paragraph (1) of Regulation 7 of the European Communities (Hygienic production and Placing on the market of raw milk, heat-treated milk and milk based products) Regulations, 1996 (SI No. 9 of 1996); and the number of times he has refused to consent to the registration of the holding or has revoked the registration of the holding. [19065/99]
174 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the date of issue of the guidelines to the proprietors of milk production holdings already producing milk on or before the date the regulations came into force and deemed to be already registered under paragraph (1) (b) of Regulation 7 of the European Communities (Hygienic Production and Placing on the market of raw milk, heat-treated milk and milk based products) Regulations, 1996 (SI No. 9 of 1996). [19066/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 172 to 174, inclusive, together.
The standards relating to the registration of holdings under Regulation 7 of the European Communities (Hygienic Production and Placing on the market of raw milk, heat-treated milk and milk-based products) Regulation, 1996 are set out in Annex A, Chapters II and III of those regulations.
Guidelines for the registration of milk production holdings were drawn up by my Department in advance of the introduction of the National Regulations (S.I. No. 9 of 1996) in January, 1996. Those guidelines in booklet form were made available to all interested parties. A copy can be made available to the Deputy.
The Department's dairy produce inspectorate which is responsible for carrying out inspections under Regulation 7 has drawn up a detailed list of requirements which must be complied with to meet the standards set out in annex A. The Inspectorate has also issued a list of procedures to be followed by staff carrying out inspections. Those procedures were first issued in October 1993 and have been revised and reissued a number of times, most recently on 1 July 1999.
Under the provisions of Regulation 7, when an authorised officer following an inspection of a holding forms the view that the holding does not comply with the standards set down in Annex A, a notice is given to the person in charge of the holding detailing the shortcomings. Depending on the extent and nature of those shortcomings a specified period of time is allowed to the person in charge to rectify the situation. After the end of that period the authorised officer will again visit the holding to check that the necessary improvements have been carried out.
In relation to the revocation of registration the position is that this has been found necessary only in five cases.
