DAIRY FARMS [ S.L.231.05 1
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 231.05
DAIRY FARMS REGULATIONS
1st May, 1978
LEGAL NOTICE 28 of 1976, as amended by Legal Notice 98 of 1989.
Title .
PART I 
GENERAL
Interpretation.
Cap. 231.
2. In these Regulations -
"the Act" means the Food, Drugs and Drinking Water Act;
"to sell" includes to offer, expose or advertise for sale and to
supply by way of compensation or otherwise.
Issue, etc., of 
licence.
Amended by:
L.N. 98 of 1989.
3. (1) The Superintendent of Public Health shall not grant or
renew a licence under article 40 of the Act in respect of a dairy
farm if such dairy farm does not comply in every respect with the
following provisions of these regulations.
(2) The said Superintendent may also, at any time during the
currency of any such licence as aforesaid, cancel such a licence if
he finds that the dairy farm and the practices therein no longer
comply with the said provisions.
(3) The Superintendent of Public Health may, prior to the
issue, or at any time during the currency of a licence granted in
terms of these regulations, require the licensee or any member of
his household or any other person working on the dairy farm, to
submit himself to such medical examination or medical
investigations as he may deem appropriate, and it shall be the duty
of any person in respect of whom such request is made, to submit
himself to such examination or investigations.
(4) The Superintendent of Public Health may refuse to grant or
renew such licence, and may even cancel any such licence if there
is refusal on the part of any person, in respect of whom such
request is made, to submit himself to such examination or
investigations, or if it results that any such person is suffering or
may be suffering from a disease communicable to the animals
present on such farm, or to man.
Farms used partly 
for habitation and 
partly as dairy 
farms.
4. When any farm is used partly for habitation purposes and
partly as a dairy farm, the part used for habitation purposes shall
have no direct communication with the other part or parts of the
farm.
2 [ S.L.231.05 DAIRY FARMS
PART II
CONSTRUCTION
Construction of 
dairy farms 
requirements.
5. Any premises used as a dairy farm shall be in accordance
with either of the following two systems:
I. Cowshed system (cows, goats, sheep)
( a ) there shall be a floor space of not less than 366 cm by
137 cm for every cow and not less than 122 cm by 92
cm for every goat or sheep, such floor space to be
distributed and used in such a manner as the
Superintendent of Public Health shall approve in each
case; the height from floor to ceiling shall at no place
be less than 366 cm;
( b ) there shall be a window space of not less than one
twelfth of the superficial area of the floor and at least
two ventilating openings of the aggregate area of 15
square cm per cubic metre (one square inch per 15
cubic feet) of the space of the premises; the windows
and the ventilating openings shall be so situated as
approved by the Superintendent of Public Health;
( c ) the inner walls, including those of the milkroom, the
calving pen and the calf pen, shall be well plastered
and coated with impervious material up to a height of
at least 244 cm. All other wall and ceiling surfaces
shall be limewashed or painted at such times as may be
necessary to keep the premises in a clean condition;
( d ) the floor shall be of impervious jointless material with
the necessary fall to open channels draining into a
gulley trap properly connected with the drains so as to
prevent accumulation of liquid;
( e ) there shall be feeding and milking passages when these
are considered necessary by the Superintendent of
Public Health;
( f ) the premises shall be supplied with mains water and
with electricity and shall have a water tank of not less
than 909 litres;
( g ) the premises shall have a separate milkroom to be used
for storing and cooling of milk and having the
following minimum area:
11 square metres for any number of goats or
sheep or for up to 40 cows;
14 square metres for herds of between 41 and 70
cows;
17 square metres for herds of above 70 cows;
and such room shall be fly-proof and its floor shall be
regularly drained;
( h ) the premises shall also have -
(i) in the case of cows, a separate room, to be used
as a calving pen, of not less than 305 cm by 366
DAIRY FARMS [ S.L.231.05 3
cm, and another separate room of the same
dimensions, to be used as a calves pen, with
separate spaces of not less than 122 cm by 152
cm by 152 cm high, for each calf, each such
space having at least three solid walls, and
(ii) in the case of goats and/or sheep, a separate
room, to be used as a kidding pen, of not less
than 305 cm by 305 cm and another separate
room of the same dimensions, to be used as a
kids’ pen, with separate spaces of not less than
92 cm by 61 cm by 92 cm high, for each kid,
each such space having at least three solid walls:
Provided that the Superintendent of Public Health may
grant exemption from total or partial compliance with the
provisions of paragraph ( f ) and/or ( h ) when he deems compliance
therewith to be impracticable, subject to such conditions as he may
deem fit to impose.
II. Parlour system (cows only)
( a ) there shall be an exercise yard (the shape of which
shall be in every case to the satisfaction of the
Superintendent of Public Health) of not less than 6.25
square metres per milking cow without horns, and 10
square metres per milking cow with horns; but no such
yard shall in any case be less than 50 square metres;
( b ) there shall be a covered yard of not less than 457 cm in
width and 92 cm per cow in length and with a roof,
with a minimum height of 300 cm from the door,
sloped to end-located drains which shall drain into the
water cistern;
( c ) the premises shall have -
(i) a collecting yard having an area of 1.5 square
metres per cow, and which shall not be larger
than 52 square metres unless the Superintendent
of Public Health directs otherwise;
(ii) a milking parlour of the following minimum
dimensions:
height 300 cm 
length 600 cm 
width 320 cm 
pitdepth 68 cm 
pitwidth 122 cm 
The space of the said milking parlour shall
be subdivided into milkstalls one for every cow
being milked, and the floor of the said milkstall
shall slope away from the milker’s pit and shall
have a herb 10 cm high and 8 cm wide.
The said milking parlour shall also have not
less than .5 square metre of window light or of
roof light per milkstall. There must also be
adequate artificial lighting.
4 [ S.L.231.05 DAIRY FARMS
(iii) A milkroom, a calving pen and a calves pen of
the same dimensions as those specified in
paragraph ( g ) and in paragraph ( h )(i) of Part I of
this regulation;
( d ) the collecting yard and the milking parlour shall be
easily accessible from the exercise yard or yards;
( e ) the milkroom shall be easily accessible from the road
and shall be adjacent to the milking parlour;
( f ) the floors of all yards, the milking parlour, the
milkroom, the calving pen, the calves pen and all
ramps and lanes within the premises are to be laid in
not less than 10 cm thick concrete:
Provided that the Superintendent of Public
Health may allow other types of flooring of the
exercise yard, ramps and lanes;
( g ) all floors shall have a 3% slope leading to impervious
open channels which shall have a gradient of 2% and
both floors and channels shall be regularly drained;
( h ) the milking parlour and the milkroom shall be fly
proof and their interior walls shall be rendered in
impervious material up to a height of 244 cm; all their
other walls, their ceiling and other surfaces shall be
lime-washed or painted as may be necessary to keep
the premises in a clean condition;
( i ) the premises shall be supplied with mains water and
with electricity and shall have a water tank of not less
than 909 litres.
Manure clamp.  6. (1) Every dairy farm shall have, or shall have facility to
use, a properly designed covered manure clamp built in the form of
a Baber’s trap, of a size approved in each case by the
Superintendent of Public Health, for the dumping of animal
drippings and other refuse.
(2) The manure clamp shall be periodically cleaned to the
satisfaction of the Superintendent of Public Health.
PART III 
KEEPING AND PRACTICE
Ventilation, etc. 7.  Every dairy farm shall be kept well ventilated and clean. 
Use of straw, etc. 8. No straw or other material which has been used by a person
or animal suffering from, or that has died of, tuberculosis, small
pox or any other communicable disease shall be used for any
purpose in any dairy farm.
Communicable 
diseases.
9. (1) No milk produced by animals kept in premises in
which a case of a communicable disease has occurred, and no milk
kept in any such premises, shall be sold unless such sale has been
authorised in writing by the Superintendent of Public Health.
(2) No person shall knowingly use, or cause or allow, to be
used, for any purpose in connection with milk or the production
DAIRY FARMS [ S.L.231.05 5
thereof any utensil that has been in the possession of any person
affected with a communicable disease and which has not been
disinfected.
Clean clothing, etc.
production, distribution or storage of milk for sale shall keep his
person and his clothing in a clean condition.
Cleaning of 
vessels, etc.
11. (1) Any vessel or other receptacle, lid or appliance which
may come into contact with milk shall be thoroughly washed
immediately after use, and shall be cleansed, and then scalded with
boiling water or steam, or otherwise sterilised, before it is used
again.
(2) Every such vessel or other receptacle, lid or appliance
shall, while not in use, be stored in a clean place and be protected
from dust or dirt.
(3) No such vessel or other receptacle, lid or appliance shall be
used for containing, measuring, or applying any process or
treatment to, any article other than milk or milk products.
Protection against 
contamination.
12. Vessels and other receptacles containing milk for sale shall
at all times be kept properly covered and protected against
contamination and deterioration, and shall not be deposited or kept
in any place where the milk is liable to be contaminated or infected.
Unfit vessels, etc.
reception, measurement, storage or delivery of milk for sale any
vessel or other receptacle the interior surface of which is incapable
of being readily cleansed, or which is made of such material which
may contaminate the milk.
Recognition mark 
and cover.
14. (1) Every vessel or other receptacle used for the
conveyance of milk for sale shall be distinctly marked with the
name and address of the owner or of the vendor or with any other
mark recognised by the Superintendent of Public Health.
(2) Every such vessel or other receptacle shall be provided with
an unhinged cover or lid, which shall be so constructed and fitted as
to prevent the access to the milk of dirt, dust, or rain water.
Removal of dung.
dung which shall be removed therefrom immediately after milking
and at least once in every day and which shall be kept at such
distance from the milking-room and from the milk room as the
Superintendent of Public Health shall, in each case, direct.
Prohibition of sale 
of certain milk.
16. No person shall sell -
( a ) the milk of animals fed on poisonous or deteriorated
fodder or on fodder capable of imparting to the milk a
bad smell or flavour, or of any animals treated with
any poisonous substance acting on the general system
of milch animals;
( b ) any blue, red, bitter, viscous or putrid milk or any milk
having an abnormal colour, smell or flavour, or any
milk containing evident traces of excrement or being
otherwise dirty;
6 [ S.L.231.05 DAIRY FARMS
( c ) any sour milk or any milk that curdles when boiled; or
( d ) any milk containing less than three  per centum  of milk
fat unless, when sold, it is declared to be skimmed or
separated milk.
Prohibition of 
certain animals 
from dairy farms.
17. No animal or poultry, other than cows, goats or sheep, shall
be kept in any dairy farm or in any room directly communicated
therewith.
Milk cooling 
facilities.
18. The dairy farm shall be equipped with adequate milk
cooling facilities:
Provided that the Superintendent of Public Health may,
after consultation with the Manager of the Malta Dairy Products,
grant exemption from this regulation for a specified period of time.
