Comply on hygiene or else, milk producers warned

Fourteen suppliers of raw milk to Malta Dairy Products (MDP) have been given till the end of March to put their farm in order or lose their permits.

This final warning was issued by the Ministry for Rural Affairs and the Environment this week following various inspections carried out by local and EU veterinary officers who found problems related to hygiene and upkeep in the farms in question.

Four of the farmers have already informed the ministry they no longer wish to supply the MDP with milk for processing as they are not ready to make the necessary investment.

The MDP gets its raw milk from about 160 farms, Thus, even if all the farms in question stop supplying milk, the effect on consumers will be minimal.

When contacted, Environment Minister George Pullicino said the government decided to act on this issue in order to "safeguard the interests of the consumers and the local milk industry".

"These farmers had years in which to make the necessary upgrades in order to comply with strict EU regulations on food safety. Many of our milk suppliers and MDP itself invested hundreds of thousands of euros to make the necessary changes and upgrade their product. Unfortunately, some farmers did not listen to our repeated warnings. Now the time has come to take final action in the interest of consumers," Mr Pullicino said.

The EU has strict rules governing food safety and adopts a policy of controls "from stable to table". These rules include animal welfare and specific hygiene requirements in all the farms supplying milk to the EU market.

Commission sources told The Times that the EU executive had been pressing the Maltese authorities over this issue for a long time following inspections at Maltese farms carried out by its Food and Veterinary Services.

The matter was also raised during a meeting in Malta last October between Commissioner Markos Kyprianou, responsible for food safety, and the Maltese authorities.

The 14 farmers in question have been specifically told that if they are still found to be in breach of EU regulations by the end of March they will no longer be able to sell their product to MDP and their permit will be terminated.

"The farmers involved in this matter supply very small quantities of milk," government sources said. "The big farms have made the necessary investment during the past years and were also given financial support to do so through EU and government funds.

These 14 farmers refused our support as they didn't want to upgrade their operations. Now they know that they can't keep on doing this for long," the sources said.

Mr Pullicino said it is unfortunate that not all the farming community realised the importance of improving standards. "This is also in the interest of the same farmers. It's not fair to keep accepting inferior quality products to the detriment of the other farmers who have pulled up their socks and invested money."