The Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission has opened a public comment period until May 8 to react to proposal to change regulations under the milk act.
It said ”the proposed amendments include:
• Milk being moved from farm to processing in Ontario is graded twice. First by a Bulk Tank Milk Grader (BTMG) before being transferred into a tank truck for transport to a processing plant and then by a Plant Milk Grader (PMG) before being received into the plant.
Both BTMGs and PMGs are required to recertify at regular intervals. Some dairy farms in Ontario are also processing their milk in an on-farm processing plant.
An amendment allowing an on-farm processor who only processes their own milk and holds a BTMG certificate to receive a PMG certificate without requiring them to complete the PMG examination will reduce costs related to the examination (e.g., costs of training course, mileage, accommodation, time away from their farm and processing plant) and will not impact milk safety and quality.
• Replacing the current requirement for a prescriptive minimum frequency of cleaning and sanitizing plant equipment with a requirement for written sanitation programs that will determine the most appropriate cleaning frequency based on the food safety risk of the process and the products in the plant.
Keeping records of the routine implementation of the written sanitation programs will also be required. Moving to requiring written sanitation programs that establish the frequency of cleaning based on the food safety risk of the product being manufactured will also align Ontario's regulatory approach with federal requirements that many processing plants in Ontario are required to meet as part of their federal licensing.
• Allowing that BTMG and PMG certificates expire up to a maximum of five years after an effective date (instead of exactly five years from the date of issue) will provide the organizations that operate certificate renewal programs with the flexibility to align certificate expirations annually. This will simplify the administration of certificate renewal processes.
These amendments will help reduce burden for existing and future dairy processors while maintaining Ontario's high food safety and quality for milk and milk products,” the website posting said.
