Safe imports of milk and dairy products

SUMMARY OF:

Commission Regulation (EU) No 605/2010 – animal and public health and veterinary certification conditions for the import into the EU of raw milk and dairy products for human consumption

SUMMARY

WHAT DOES THIS REGULATION DO?

• It safeguards animal health in the EU by ensuring that imported milk and milk products meet certain basic animal health criteria.
• It sets out the public and animal health conditions and certification requirements for importing raw milk and dairy products into the EU, including any heat treatments required.
• It lists the countries from which imports are authorised.

KEY POINTS

The import of dairy products from raw milk from non-EU countries is allowed from authorised countries, but different types of heat treatment apply depending on the animal health situation in the country of origin.

The different categories of authorised countries are listed in Annex I to the Regulation.

• Imports of raw milk and dairy products are authorised from countries listed in Column A of the Annex without needing to undergo heat treatment.
• Imports derived from the raw milk of cows, ewes, goats or buffaloes from countries listed in Columns B and C of the Annex must have been treated with pasteurisation, high temperature short time pasteurisation (HTST) or ultra-high temperature (UHT) treatments, depending on the Column (B or C) in which the country is listed.
• Milk or dairy products from animals other than cows, ewes, goats or buffaloes must undergo pasteurisation or UHT treatment.

Milk or dairy products should not originate from areas at risk of foot-and-mouth disease.

This requirement does not apply to countries listed in Column A of the Annex. However, milk or dairy products must undergo heat treatment if they originate from a country where there has been an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease or there have been vaccinations in the previous 12 months.

All imports should be accompanied by a health certificate signed by a veterinary practitioner. Animal health conditions for imports of milk and dairy products are laid down in Directive 2002/99/EC.

Consignments of raw milk and dairy products passing through the EU destined for a non-EU country will only be authorised under this Regulation if:

• they come from an authorised country and are appropriately heat-treated, according to the category (Column A or Column B) of the country of origin
• they comply with the specific animal health conditions in the certification rules and carry a health certificate
• they are approved for transit, including for storage as appropriate, after veterinary inspection at a border post.

FROM WHEN DOES THIS REGULATION APPLY?

It entered into force on 30 July 2010.

BACKGROUND

Importation of Milk and Milk Products for Human Consumption on the European Commission's website

ACT

Commission Regulation (EU) No 605/2010 of 2 July 2010 laying down animal and public health and veterinary certification conditions for the introduction into the European Union of raw milk and dairy products intended for human consumption (OJ L 175, 10.7.2010, pp. 1–24)

Successive amendments and corrections to Regulation (EU) No 605/2010 have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is for reference only.

RELATED ACTS

Council Directive 2002/99/EC of 16 December 2002 laying down the animal health rules governing the production, processing, distribution and introduction of products of animal origin for human consumption (OJ L 18, 23.1.2003, pp. 11–20). See consolidated version.

last update 25.11.2015