1. Premises in which animals are milked or in which raw milk is handled, cooled or stored shall—
(a)be designed, sited, constructed, maintained and managed in such a way as to ensure satisfactory hygiene conditions for milking operations and for the handling, cooling and storing of milk and shall provide adequate separation from all sources of contamination, including lavatories and dung heaps;
(b)have walls and flooring in areas liable to soiling or infection, and fittings and equipment, which are easy to clean and disinfect;
(c)have suitable means of waste disposal, including flooring which allows liquids to drain away;
(d)have adequate ventilation and lighting;
(e)have a sufficient supply of potable water for use in milking operations, and for the cleaning of equipment and utensils intended to come into contact with milk;
(f)have suitable facilities near the place of milking to enable milkers and persons handling milk to wash their hands and arms;
(g)in the case of production holdings where milk-producing animals are kept untethered in the open, have a milking parlour, or a milking area for the milking of animals which is adequately separated from the housing area; and
(h)in the case of milk storage premises, have suitable refrigeration equipment, be adequately protected against vermin and be adequately separated from any premises where any animals are housed or milked.
2. If a processing or treatment establishment is attached to a production holding for ewes and goats, there shall be no direct communication between premises where the ewes and goats are housed or milked, and the processing or treatment establishment.
1. Equipment and instruments or their surfaces which are intended to come into contact with milk in premises in which animals are milked or in which milk is handled, cooled or stored shall be made of smooth material which is easy to clean and disinfect, which resists corrosion and which will not transfer substances to milk in such quantities as to endanger human health, impair the composition of milk or adversely affect its organoleptic characteristics.
2. Equipment, utensils and all their components used for milking shall be kept clean and maintained in good physical condition at all times.
3. After use, any utensils used for milking, mechanical milking equipment and containers which come into contact with milk shall be cleaned and disinfected and rinsed with potable water which is not liable to cause contamination.
4. Bulk milk tanks when empty shall be left with an open plug hole or, where appropriate, an open outlet valve.
5. Where milking is done by hand, the pails containing the milk shall be covered and brought as quickly as possible to the milk storage premises.
1. Where milking is done in the open, the ground where it takes place shall be clean.
2. Where a moveable milking bail is used, it shall—
(a)have a sufficient supply of potable water for use in milking operations and for the cleaning of equipment, utensils and all their components intended to come into contact with milk;
(b)have fittings and equipment which are easy to wash, clean and disinfect;
(c)be sited on ground which is free of any accumulation of excreta or other waste matter;
(d)provide adequate protection for the milk during the whole period in which the bail is in use;
(e)be so constructed and finished as to permit the interior surfaces to be kept clean.
1. Feedstuffs shall not be stored on a production holding where they can have an adverse effect on milk.