S.L. 437.110 Art. 11Enforcement procedure costs.

In respect of actions and procedures for offences in connection with these rules, the Court may award in favour of the Government such costs and expenses incurred in relation to those actions and procedures as it may deem fit:

Provided that where the Director deems it more appropriate to impose an administrative penalty as stipulated under article 61 of the Act, the offender shall also pay for any costs or expenses incurred in relation to actions and procedures carried out during the inspection where irregularities are found.

SCHEDULE Adoption of national measures

In terms of Article 10 of Council Regulation (EC) No 853/ 2004, the following national measures adopt Annex III of the said Regulation, as follows:

In the case of sheep and goat milk used for the production of traditional dairy products:

(a) the checks referred to in Council Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 in Annex III, Section IX, Chapter I, Part III, paragraph 2 shall be carried out before raw milk is to be used for production;

(b) the number of micro-organisms as referred to in Council Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 in Annex III, Section IX, Chapter I, Part III, paragraph 3 shall be set on the basis of the result of a test on an individual sample of raw milk twice a month;

(c) in line with Annex III, Section IX, Chapter I, Part IIB, paragraph 4 (b) and Annex III, Section IX, Chapter II, Part I, paragraph 2(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, the Director authorises the use of raw milk at a temperature of not less than 37°C within two (2) hours from milking for the production of traditional dairy products;

(d) in order to accommodate food business operators in terms of Article 10, paragraph 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, it shall be permissible to utilise raw milk originating from sheep and goats which:

(i) do not show clinical signs of brucellosis (B.melitensis);

(ii) having been tested for brucellosis (B.melitensis) using one of the tests listed in the Annex to Council Decision (EC) 90/242/EEC of 21 May 1990 introducing a Community financial measure for the eradication of brucellosis in sheep and goats at least once every twelve (12) months, where this test results negative;

(iii) have been tested for any other disease in accordance with regulation 5(4) with negative results for any disease at least once every twelve (12) months;

(iv) belong to a registered farm officially free or free of brucellosis as stipulated under Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on transmissible animal diseases and amending and repealing certain acts in the area of animal health;

(e) in order to enable the continued use of traditional methods for the production of traditional dairy products in terms of Article 10, paragraph 4, of Council Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, it shall be permissible:

(i) that the sheep and goats are hand milked as long as this milking takes place in an area which is not the area where these animals are kept and bred on the farm;

(ii) that the milk is filtered through a sieve preferably of food grade plastic or stainless steel and through a clean muslin cloth that is washed and boiled;

(iii) that the milk is placed in a food grade plastic or stainless steel container and is not cooled if it is going to be used for the production of traditional dairy products within two (2) hours of milking;

(iv) that this container with milk may be transported without being cooled as long as the trip between the place where the milking takes place and the place where the production of the traditional dairy products takes place does not take longer than sixty

(60) minutes;

(v) as soon as this milk arrives at the place where the production of traditional dairy products takes place, this milk is transferred into a clay, stainless steel, aluminium or any other food grade material pot and is heated to 37°C;

(vi) that this temperature may be measured with thermometers that are appropriate for food preparation procedures;

(vii) as soon as the temperature is adequate, ‘qtar tat-tames’ or any form of other enzyme that induces milk to coagulate shall be added in accordance with the recipe described for the production of traditional dairy product;

(viii) the curd that forms shall be left to stand for thirty (30) minutes in an ambient temperature covered by a small meshed net;

(ix) that after such time the curd is lifted with a skimmer and placed in a form (qaleb) made of food grade plastic or cane or reed;

(x) that this curd is pressed also by hand to make sure that the form is packed well and all air is removed;

(xi) that the forms are placed in a food grade plastic or aluminium or stainless steel tray so that the forms of the traditional dairy product drip;

(xii) that the trays after the first half hour shall be placed in a place where they can be cooled where the temperature shall be kept between 7°C and 12°C;

(xiii) that these forms of the traditional dairy product shall be turned over every two ( 2 ) hours for three or four times to dry up in a uniform and homogeneous manner;

(xiv) that these forms of the traditional dairy product shall be extracted out of their containers after twenty-four (24) hours;

(xv) that all this process of the manufacture of the traditional dairy product can take place in environments that do not have temperature control;

(xvi) that the traditional dairy product that shall be placed on the market in a fresh state can at this point be packed in an acceptable way and as described for that traditional dairy product;

(xvii) that in the case of a traditional dairy product that shall be dried, this shall be placed in a place to dry in accordance with the method described in the recipe for the production of the traditional dairy product. This drying can take place in a ‘qanniċ’ or ‘nemmusiera’;

(xviii) that the storage of the traditional dairy product that has been dried or treated in any other way may take place in a place that does not have temperature control and may be kept in ambient temperature.

(f) when the traditional dairy product is placed on the market, it shall be packed bearing an identification mark that is placed in such a way that it shall be destroyed or broken when the packaging or the wrapping of the product is opened or the product has to be packed and wrapped in a way that it is sealed so that the wrapping or packaging material cannot be used again once it is opened.