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Animal by-products: Registration of milk premises - Questions and answers

Q1. What are Animal By-Products?

A. Article 2 of the Animal By Products Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 defines an animal by-product (ABP) as any part of an animal carcass, or any material of animal origin, not intended for human consumption. All products of animal origin would be considered to be ABPs if they were not intended for human consumption and are categorised into three groups depending on their risk status. Milk is a material of animal origin and if it is derived from animals that do not show signs of communicable disease the Regulation identifies it as a low risk category 3 animal by-product.

Q2. How is milk dealt with under the Regulation 1774/2002?

A. Regulation 1774/2002 does not apply to milk and colostrums disposed of or used on the farm of origin. The Regulation also allows the application of milk and colostrums as a fertiliser or soil improver, if judged safe by member states.

When the Regulation entered into force it required milk to be treated before being fed to animals. This was acknowledged to be inappropriate, and the Commission asked for an opinion from the European Food Safety Authority. In the interim, the Commission put proposals forward that would allow transitional measures to be adopted but that would recognise that feeding milk to livestock can be a vehicle through which the FMD pathogen is transmitted.

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Q3. Why was Regulation 79/2005 needed?
A . Since the Commission has asked the European Food Safety Agency to consider the risk posed from the feeding of milk to animals, interim measures should apply. These measures are contained in Regulation 79/2005.

Regulation 79/2005, which amends Regulation 1774/2002, allows for current practices to continue and avoids the need for milk, milk products or white water to be subjected to further treatment before being fed to livestock. There are also restrictions on the movement of animals which are fed on this material, but these restrictions reflect current practice and should not adversely affect the pig industry (which uses most of this material).

Q4. What changes did Regulation 79/2005 introduce?

A. Regulation 79/2005 allows for current practices to continue, and acknowledges that dairy products that are used in animal feed are usually produced in establishments complying with the requirements of and approved in accordance with Regulations (EC) Nos 852/2004 and 853/2004 as appropriate, which lay down the hygiene rules for foodstuffs and food of animal origin respectively, including the production and placing on the market of raw milk, heat-treated milk and dairy products. The regulations require that milk processing establishments formerly authorised under Directive 92/46/EEC (now Council Regulation 853/2004) that consign products for animal feed, and authorised farm holdings that are feeding these products to animals, to be registered with Defra, and to keep their customer and supplier lists up-to-date, in order to allow effective traceability in the event of a disease outbreak.

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Q5. What is the scope of milk based products covered by Regulation 79/2005?
A. This Regulation covers category 3 low risk milk and milk based products which are defined as ‘Dairy products’ in Hygiene legislation. These are processed products of animal origin resulting from the processing of raw milk or from the further processing of such processed products e.g. heat-treated milk, cheese [including cheese with herbs, nuts or fruit], yoghurt [including yoghurt with fruit], milk powder, dried milk, butter, cream, yoghurt, etc.

Our interpretation is that the dairy products should normally have between 80-100% milk content to require registration under Regulation 79/2005.

Q6. Which products fall outside the scope of Regulation 79/2005?

A. Processed products that combine material of animal origin with product of plant origin; e.g. milk chocolate, cakes, and biscuits.

Q7. What standards do milk and milk based products have to meet under Regulation 1774/2002 before feeding to animals?

A. The standards in Regulation 1774/2002 for milk or treated or processed milk products are:

  • Heat treatment to at least 72 degrees C for at least 15 seconds, or any other combination of time temperature conditions to obtain a equivalent effect followed by a drying process for dried milk or dried milk products, or for an acidified milk product a process by which the PH is reduced and kept for an hour below 6.

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Q8. What standards do milk and milk based products have to meet under Regulation 79/2005 before feeding to animals?
A. If the standard under Regulation 1774/2002 cannot be met, Regulation 79/2005 allows other treatment processes for milk materials before they are fed to animals.

The Regulation identifies three groups of milk materials.

(I) The first group of material may be used without restriction as feed material in member states provided the treatment standards and traceability of products has been assured. The group includes products, including cleaning water that have been in contact with raw milk and/or milk pasteurised in accordance with Chapter XI, Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 and Chapter II(II), Section IX, Annex III of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 as amended by paragraph 2(d)(ii) of Annex VII or Regulation (EC) No 2074/2005, which have been subjected to at least one of the following treatments:

(a) “ultra high temperature” (UHT) in accordance with paragraph 2(d)(ii) of Annex VII or Regulation (EC) No 2074/2005;

(b) pasteurisation in accordance with paragraph 2(d)(ii) of Annex VII or Regulation (EC) No 2074/2005, followed by:

(i) in the case of dried milk or dried milk products, a drying process; or
(ii) in the case of an acidified milk product, a process by which the pH is reduced and kept for at least one hour at a level below 6.

Food Business are not restricted to using just pasteurisation and ultra high temperature treatments, but theses are the only two set out in the Regulations. Regulation 852/2004 advises Food Business Operators to ensure that the heat treatment they use conforms with internationally recognised standards.

(II) The second group of products includes cleaning water that has been in contact with milk that has only been pasteurised in accordance paragraph 2(d)(ii) of Annex VII or Regulation (EC) No 2074/2005 and whey produced from non heat-treated milk-based products, which must be collected at least 16 hours after milk clotting and where the pH must be recorded as < 6.0 before being sent directly to authorised animal holdings. These material may be used as feed in the Member State concerned subject to the following conditions:

a. they are sent from an establishment complying with the requirements of and approved in accordance with Regulations (EC) Nos. 852/2004 and 853/2004 as appropriate; and

b. they are sent to a limited number of authorised animal holdings.

(III) The last group of materials include raw products, including cleaning water that has been in contact with raw milk, and other products for which the treatments referred to above cannot be ensured. These products may be used as feed material in the Member State concerned subject to the following conditions:

(a) they are sent from an establishment complying with the requirements of and approved in accordance with Regulations (EC) Nos. 852/2004 and 853/2004 as appropriate; and

(b) they are sent to a limited number of authorised animal holdings, provided that the animals present in the authorised animal holdings can only be moved:

(i) either directly to a slaughterhouse located in the same Member State; or

(ii) to another holding in the same Member State, for which the competent authority guarantees that animals susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease may leave the holding only: (a) either in accordance with point (i); or (b) if the animals have been dispatched to a holding not feeding the products referred to in this Annex, after a 21 days standstill period has elapsed from the introduction of the animals.

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Q9. When did these provisions apply in England?

A. Regulation 79/2005 was implemented in England from 28 September 2005 by statutory instrument 2347/2005.

Q10. What is the position for the rest of the UK?

A. Regulation 79/2005 was implemented in Wales from 12 May 2006 by the Welsh statutory instrument 1293 (W.127). Our counterparts in Scotland & NI have not yet transposed 79/2005 into domestic controls. For further information in these areas please contact:


Q11. Which animals can be fed without complying with 79/2005?

A. All farmed animals that are fed milk and milk based products are covered by this legislation.

Q12. Why do I need to Register?

A. Milk processing establishments formerly authorised under Directive 92/46/EEC (now Council Regulation 853/2004) that consign milk products for animal feed, and authorised farm holdings that are feeding these products to animals, are required to be registered with Defra and to keep their customer and supplier lists up-to-date. Registration will enable effective tracing in the event of an out break of an animal disease, such as FMD.

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Q13. Why can’t my registration under the EC Feed Hygiene Regulation 183/2005 be used under Regulation 79/2005?

A. The information being provided for registrations under the EC Feed Hygiene Regulation 183/2005 will not distinguish different feed materials being handled. Under Regulation 79/2005, we need to know more about those businesses which handle milk for animal feed for the purposes for disease tracing. Therefore plants that process, store, supply the material and the farms which receive it to feed must be registered, in order to allow effective traceability in the event of a disease outbreak.

Q14. Is this a voluntary or mandatory requirement?

A. It is mandatory that premises that process, store or use milk products for animal feed be registered.

Q15. How do I become registered if I later realise that my products will be fed to animals?

A. You can register in two ways:

1) you can register on-line from the Defra website and submit the necessary information; or

2) you can call Defra Helpline on 08459 33 55 77 and they will take your information.

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Page last modified: 9 June, 2008

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs