Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Trader Notice DH/2/2015
(This Trader Notice amends Trader Notice 02/2012)
To: Food Business Operators in the Dairy Industry
Subject: Reminder in relation to Food Business Operator’s obligations regarding the collection of raw milk from bovine dairy herds restricted due to TB (and/or Brucellosis*)
Food Business Operators producing or, as appropriate, collecting raw milk from dairy holdings are reminded of their legal obligation under Annex III , Section 9, Chapter 1 of
Regulation 853/2004 EC, that raw milk produced by animals that show positive reactions to the Tuberculosis or Brucellosis tests (reactors and inconclusive reactors) must not be collected for processing for human consumption.
The Department will continue to provide official notification of dairy herd restrictions to
Food Business Operators.
To ensure compliance with the requirements laid down in the Regulations, the FBO/Milk
Purchaser must put in place procedures (SOP) based on the points outlined below:

The FBO/Milk Purchaser will inform the herd-owner of the obligation that milk from dairy animals that show a positive reaction to tests for Tuberculosis or Brucellosis
(reactors and inconclusive reactors) must be withheld from the human food chain by excluding it from milk collection and that only milk from healthy animals can be permitted to enter the food chain. In this regard, it is a legal obligation under SI No 58 of 2015, Article 24(5) that the herd-owner must notify the FBO/Milk Purchaser when
TB/Brucellosis reactors and inconclusive reactors are disclosed on farm. These provisions extend to reactor/inconclusive re-tests.

The FBO/Milk Purchaser will contact the herd-owner on receipt of the Official
Notification Form from the DAFM Regional Veterinary Office (RVO) to confirm that the milk is being withheld from reactors and inconclusive reactors and will continue to be withheld during the period of restriction. (The revised Form now includes the number of reactors recorded as cows).

Where it is feasible to do so, the FBO/Milk Purchaser should conduct checks on the expected reduction in raw milk collection volumes following exclusion of raw milk from reactor and inconclusive reactor animals.


The FBO/Milk Purchaser will retain on file the Official Notification Form (Currently the ER122A and ER122B Forms) received from the RVO and will also retain a record on file of the communications made with the herd-owner during the period of restriction.
* The island of Ireland is now Officially Brucellosis Free (OBF).
Joan McDougall
Milk Hygiene Section,
Grattan Business Centre,
Portlaoise, Co Laois.
11 th November 2015