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MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - LONG TITLE

An Act to provide for the licensing of persons manufacturing milk
products, to extend and consolidate the enactments regarding
registration of premises used for such manufacture and the
maintenance of proper standards of quality of such products, to
control the quality of milk on certain premises and for other
purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.{1}
[30th December 1958]
Licensing of producers of milk products.

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 1

1.(1) Subject to sub-section (2), a person shall not either by
himself or by a servant or agent receive for profit milk in bulk
whether from farms or from other receiving stations or carry on the
business of

(a)extracting cream from milk;

(b)receiving cream from cream producers for sale otherwise than by
retail as cream or for the manufacture of butter;

(c)making, blending or reworking butter or subjecting it to any such
treatment as does not cause it to cease to be butter;

(d)collecting, examining or classifying butter;

(e)manufacturing any milk product other than cream or butter;

(2) Sub-section (1) shall not apply

(a)to a retail business by reason only of the fact that in that
business butter is cut or wrapped for the purpose of being sold in
the course of that business; or

(b)to any business carried on on a farm where the milk used in
that business has all been produced on that farm.

(3) Any person who acts in contravention of sub-section (1) shall
be guilty of an offence against this Act.

(4) The Ministry may issue a licence to a person who satisfies the
Ministry that he is a suitable person to carry on the business for
which the licence is required.

(5) A licence shall not be issued to an individual person who is
not of full age and the Ministry may refuse to issue a licence to
any person who has been convicted of an offence against this Act
or who was at any time the holder of a licence which has been
revoked.

(6) A licence shall be issued in such manner and subject to such
conditions as may be prescribed including (but without prejudice to
the generality of this sub-section) a condition, if the regulations
so prescribe, that a licence-holder shall employ in such supervisory
capacities as the Ministry specifies only such persons as the
Ministry considers to be adequately qualified or sufficiently
experienced.

(7) The Ministry may revoke or suspend a licence if the
licence-holder is convicted of an offence against this Act or fails
to comply with any prescribed condition subject to which the licence
was issued.

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 2
Registration of premises.

2.(1) All premises owned or occupied by a licence-holder for the
purpose of his business as such licence-holder shall be registered
by him with the Ministry in such manner and subject to such
conditions as may be prescribed; and a licence-holder using or
causing to be used for any such purpose as aforesaid any premises
not duly registered shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.

(2) The Ministry may refuse to register any premises as aforesaid
if it is not satisfied that

(a)the premises are structurally suited for the purpose in respect
of which registration is sought;

(b)the machinery, equipment and utensils are mechanically efficient
and comply with such regulations as may be prescribed;

(c)the premises are situated in such a position and are used in
such manner as to prevent the exposure to any noxious effluvium or
to any other source of contamination of any milk, milk product or
any materials or ingredients used in any process of manufacture,
blending, reworking or treatment, or in any trade carried out in
the premises;

(d)an adequate supply of good and wholesome water is available on
the premises.

(3) The Ministry may at any time after giving (except where the
cancellation is effected at the written request of the owner or
occupier) at least one month's notice of intention to cancel the
registration of any premises cancel the registration

(a)if the owner or occupier fails to comply with any prescribed
condition subject to which the premises were registered; or

(b)on any ground on which the Ministry might have refused to
register the premises.

(4) Where a licence is suspended or revoked, the registration of
any premises owned or occupied by the licence-holder shall be deemed
to be cancelled.

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 3
Fees for licences and duration of licences and registration.

3.(1) A fee of such amount as may be prescribed by the Ministry
with the approval of the Ministry of Finance shall be payable to
the Ministry in respect of the issue or renewal of a licence.

(2) A licence unless previously revoked or suspended and the
registration of any premises unless previously cancelled shall remain
in force until the thirty-first day of December in the year in
which the licence is issued or, as the case may be, the
registration is effected but a licence and a registration shall be
renewable annually and the same provisions shall apply to any such
renewal as apply in relation to the original licence or registration
respectively.

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 4
Appeals.

4. Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Ministry

(a)revoking, suspending or refusing to renew a licence; or

(b)cancelling or refusing to renew the registration of any premises;

Regulations as to quality, packing and labelling of milk products.

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 5

5.(1) Subject to sub-section (2), the Ministry may make regulations
prescribing

(a)the conditions under which milk products are to be manufactured
at registered premises;

(b)the methods to be used at registered premises in processing milk
and manufacturing butter, buttermilk, skimmed milk [,cream and dairy
ice-cream];

(c)the standards of quality to which butter, buttermilk, skimmed milk
[,cream and dairy ice-cream] manufactured at registered premises must
conform;

(d)the manner in which milk products manufactured at registered
premises are to be packed; and

(e)the method by which and the manner in which butter, buttermilk,
skimmed milk [,cream and dairy ice-cream] [are to be handled and
transported].

(2) Regulations made under sub-section (1) shall, so far as they
relate to buttermilk [and dairy ice-cream], be made with the
concurrence of the Ministry of Health and Local Government.

(3) Butter, buttermilk, skimmed milk [,cream and dairy ice-cream]
manufactured at registered premises shall be so labelled as may be
prescribed but no regulations made under this sub-section shall
interfere with the lawful use by any person of any particular mark
or brand for the purpose of his trade or business.

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 6
Prohibition of adulteration of butter and cream.

6. If any butter or cream (other than sterilised cream) found on
any registered premises is proved after analysis to contain any
adulterant the occupier of the premises shall be guilty of an
offence against this Act unless it is proved that such butter or
cream was not subjected to any treatment on those premises.[

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 7
Restriction on making, etc., of cream.

7.(1) Subject to sub-section (3), a person shall not make cream for
the purpose of sale unless the cream

(a)is produced from milk produced by the holder, and under the
authority, of a farm bottling licence or from pasteurised milk or
is subjected to treatment by heat in such manner as may be
prescribed;

(b)complies with such standards of quality as may be prescribed;

(c)has been filled into bottles or other containers which are of a
kind approved by the Ministry and have been washed, sterilised,
packed and labelled on such premises and in accordance with such
regulations as may be prescribed.

(2) Subject to sub-section (3), a person shall not either sell
cream or offer or expose cream for sale (whether by wholesale or
by retail) or have cream in his possession for the purposes of any
such sale or for the purposes of delivery (otherwise than solely as
a common carrier) to a buyer in pursuance of, or of an agreement
for, any such sale, unless it is cream in relation to which the
requirements of paragraphs (a) and (c) of sub-section (1) have been
complied with.

(3) Sub-sections (1) and (2) shall apply only to cream which is
made, or is sold or offered or exposed for sale, or is in
possession for sale or delivery, for human consumption as cream,
including whipped cream (that is, cream the volume of which has
been increased by aeration whether or not there has been added
thereto any substance permitted for use in cream by regulations made
under the Food and Drugs Act (Northern Ireland) 1958), but shall
not apply to sterilised cream.

(4) Any person who contravenes any provision of sub-section (1) or
(2) shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.

(5) Section 52 of the Food and Drugs Act (Northern Ireland) 1958
(pleading of warranty as defence) shall have effect in relation to
a prosecution for an offence committed by reason of a contravention
of sub-section (2), and section 53 of that Act (offences in
relation to warranties) shall have effect in relation to any
warranty which, by virtue of this sub-section, is or might be
pleaded as a defence in any prosecution under sub-sections (2) and
(4), as they have effect in relation to prosecutions or warranties
under that Act, as if

(a)subject to paragraph (b), any reference therein to that Act were
a reference to sub-sections (2) and (4);

(b)the references in the said section 53 (1) and (2) to an offence
under that Act were references to an offence against this Act;

(c)in sub-section (1) of the said section 52, for ", exposing or
advertising" there were substituted "or exposing" and after "for the
purpose of sale" there were inserted "or delivery";

(d)sub-section (2) (c) of the said section 52 were omitted.]

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 8
Use of words ""creamery'' and ""creamery butter.''

8.(1) The word "creamery" or any colourable imitation of that word
shall not be applied to or used in connection with any premises
which are not registered premises.

(2) The designation "creamery butter" shall not be applied to butter
produced in Northern Ireland and sent from Northern Ireland to Great
Britain, the Isle of Man or the Irish Republic unless the butter
was made at registered premises.

(3) Any person who contravenes sub-section (1) or sub-section (2)
shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 9
Quality of milk and cleansing of containers at receiving stations.

9.(1) The Ministry may make such regulations as it thinks fit in
order to ensure that milk sent in bulk from one receiving station
to another conforms to such quality and is handled and transported
in such manner and under such conditions as may be prescribed.

(2) Any container in which milk is received at registered premises
and the lid of such container shall, without prejudice to any
responsibility of the producer or supplier of the milk, be cleansed
and sterilised at those premises at such time and in such manner
as may be prescribed.

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 10
Records and returns.

10.(1) The occupier of any registered premises shall keep such
records and furnish such returns as may be prescribed and shall
permit those records to be inspected and extracts therefrom to be
taken by an authorised officer.

(2) If the occupier of any registered premises wilfully makes
default in complying with this section or if he wilfully makes any
false or fraudulent statement in any record or return kept or
furnished in accordance with this section, or refuses to permit an
authorised officer to inspect such records and take extracts
therefrom, he shall, without prejudice to his liability under any
other enactment, be guilty of an offence against this Act.

(3) No individual return or part of a return furnished in pursuance
of this section shall without the permission of the person who
furnished it be published or disclosed except for the purpose of a
prosecution under this Act.

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 11
Powers of entry, inspection and sampling.

11.(1) Any authorised officer shall for the purposes of this Act
have power (on production if so required of his authority)

(a)to enter at all reasonable times any registered premises and to
inspect any machinery, equipment or utensils found on those premises,
or any process of manufacture, blending, reworking or other treatment
carried on on those premises or any milk product, or any containers
or packing material, or any article capable of being used in the
manufacture or adulteration of any milk product, which may be found
thereon, and to take without payment reasonable samples of any such
milk product, or substance, material, or article for examination or
analysis;

(b)to enter at all reasonable times any premises where milk products
are sold otherwise than by retail, or are exposed, kept, or stored
for sale otherwise than by retail, or are stored for preservation,
and to inspect any milk product or butter-like substance found
thereon, or any containers or packing material in which the milk
product or butter-like substance is enclosed, and to take without
payment reasonable samples of any such milk product, substance, or
material for examination or analysis;

(c)to enter at all reasonable times

(i)the premises of any person engaged in the business of storing or
carrying goods for reward;

(ii)any pier, quay, wharf, jetty, dock, dock premises or aerodrome;

<(iii)any ship, boat, aircraft, railway wagon, motor, lorry, cart or other vessel or vehicle used for the conveyance of goods;

(c)and to examine or retain for examination any package labelled for
the purposes of this Act in the prescribed manner or any package
which he has reason to believe contains a milk product or ought,
by reason of this Act, to be labelled in the prescribed manner,
and to take from any such package without payment samples of any
milk product for examination or analysis.

(2) A sample shall be taken under sub-section (1) in such manner
as may be prescribed.

(3) Any authorised officer examining a package under paragraph (c)
of sub-section (1) shall mark or label the package to that effect
and such mark or label shall be deemed to be a sufficient notice
to the consignor or consignee that the package has been so
examined; and where the contents of the package are found not to
comply with the prescribed conditions as to quality, the Ministry
may direct that the package or the whole or any part of the
consignment from which it was taken be returned to the consignor.

(4) Where any package is retained under paragraph (c) of sub-section
(1) the Ministry

(a)shall immediately notify the owner or consignor; and

(b)shall as soon as practicable return the package to the owner or
consignor or, if the Ministry thinks fit, forward it to the
consignee unless after examination the Ministry decides to take
proceedings against any person for an offence against this Act in
relation to the package and to retain the package for the purpose
of those proceedings.

(5) If the Ministry has reason to believe that on any unregistered
premises there is carried on any process of manufacture, blending,
reworking, treatment or trade which under this Act may not be
carried on except on registered premises, the Ministry may specially
authorise in writing any of its officers to enter the premises and
in such case the officer shall (on production if so required of
his authority) have the like powers of entry, inspection and
sampling as if the premises were registered.

(6) Any power of entry, inspection, sampling or submitting samples
for analysis or examination conferred on an officer of a [district
council] by any enactment regulating the manufacture and sale of
food and drugs may be exercised by that officer for the purpose of
enforcing the provisions of regulations made under section five so
far as they relate to buttermilk and of section seven as if those
provisions were contained in that enactment and any such enactment
so far as it relates to evidence of the result of an analysis
shall have effect in relation to an analysis of a sample submitted
by virtue of this sub-section.

(7) Any person who wilfully obstructs or impedes an authorised
officer or an officer of a [district council] in the exercise of
any of his powers under this Act, or wilfully gives to such
officer any false or misleading information, shall be guilty of an
offence against this Act.

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 12
Power to have samples analysed or examined.

12. The Ministry may, if it thinks fit, cause any sample taken
under this Act to be submitted for analysis or bacteriological or
other examination, and on any prosecution or other proceeding under
this Act the production of a certificate purporting to be signed by
the person to whom the sample was so submitted shall be sufficient
evidence of the facts stated therein, unless the defendant requires
such person to be called as a witness.

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 13
Prosecution of offences and penalties.

13.(1) All offences against this Act shall be prosecuted and all
fines imposed thereunder shall be recovered in accordance with the
Summary Jurisdiction Acts.

(2) A prosecution for an offence against regulations made under
section five so far as they relate to butter-milk or against
section seven or against sub-section (7) of section eleven so far
as it relates to an officer of a [district council] may be
instituted by the [district council] for the district in which the
offence is committed but save as aforesaid a prosecution for an
offence against this Act shall not be instituted except by or with
the consent of the Ministry.

(3) Subject to sub-section (4), a person found guilty of an offence
against this Act shall be liable on conviction

(a)for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds;

(b)for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding one
hundred pounds or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three
months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(4) Any person who fails to comply with the provisions of any
regulations shall be guilty of an offence against this Act and
shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a fine not
exceeding fifty pounds for each offence.

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 14
Financial provisions.

14.(1) ... all sums received by the Ministry under this Act shall
be paid into the Exchequer.

Subs.(2) rep. by SRO (NI) 1973/343

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 15
Power of Ministry to make regulations.

15.(1) The Ministry may make regulations for prescribing anything
which under this Act is to be prescribed and generally for carrying
this Act into effect.

[(1A) Regulations such as are described in section 22(2A) of the
Food and Drugs Act (Northern Ireland) 1958 shall be made with the
concurrence of the Ministry of Health and Social Services.]

(2) All regulations shall be subject to negative resolution.

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 16
Interpretation.

16. In this Act, the expression

"aerodrome" means any area designed, equipped, set apart or commonly
used for affording facilities for the landing and departure of
aircraft;

"authorised" means authorised by the Ministry;

"butter-milk" includes cultured skimmed milk and cultured
re-constituted skimmed milk;

["dairy ice-cream" means ice-cream which does not contain any fat
other than fats derived from fresh cream, whole milk or butter;]

["farm bottling licence" means a licence issued under section 1(3)(a)
of the Milk Act (Northern Ireland) 1950;]

Definition rep. by SRO (NI) 1973/343

"licence" means a licence issued under section one and the
expression "licence-holder" shall be construed accordingly;

"milk product" means cream, butter, cheese, buttermilk, dried milk,
powdered milk, skimmed milk, powdered skimmed milk [, condensed milk
and dairy ice-cream] and such other product of which milk is a
main ingredient as the Ministry may prescribe;

["pasteurised milk" means milk which has been pasteurised in
accordance with regulations under the Milk Acts (Northern Ireland)
1950 and 1963 and in relation to which any such regulations which
are applicable to milk so pasteurised have been complied with;]

"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations;

"receiving station" means registered premises or such other premises
as may be prescribed at which milk is received or from which milk
is despatched;

"registered" means registered under section two;

"regulations" means regulations made by the Ministry under this Act.

S.17 rep. by SLR 1973

MARKETING OF MILK PRODUCTS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1958 - SECT 18
Short title.

18.(1) This Act may be cited as the Marketing of Milk Products Act
(Northern Ireland), 1958.

Subs.(2) rep. by SLR 1973

Schedule rep. by SLR 1973