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Under it, cows which on account of administrative difficulties. aborted were notified, and if they proved infected were isolated and disinfected.
(b) Existing legislation relating to the milk supply.
(i) The general effect of existing legislation.
116. Of the acts of Parliament regulating the milk supply, three are of special importance, namely, the milk and dairies (Scotland) act of 1914, the milk and dairies (consolidation) act of 1915, which does not extend to Scotland, and the milk and dairies (amendment) act of 1922, which extends to the whole of Great Britain. Other provisions relating to milk are included in the public health acts. The milk provisions in the food and drugs (adulteration) act In addition relate entirely to adulteration and do not concern us.
to these acts important orders have been issued under them; the milk and dairies (Scotland) order of 1925 under the act of 1914; the milk and dairies order of 1926 under the act of 1915; the milk (special designations) order, 1923; and the milk (special designations> order (Scotland), 1930, both under the act of 1922.
117. These acts and orders provide a comprehensive code for safeguarding the milk supply throughout Great Britain, administered for the most part by local authorities. In Scotland the responsible authority is in all cases the county council or the council of a large burgh. The principal provisions of the code, and the local authority administering them in England and Wales follow :-
(A) Provisions administered by sanitary authorities, namely,
borough or district councils :
(i) cow keepers and dairymen must register themselves and
their premises;
(ii) cowsheds, milk stores and shops must fulfil minimum requirements with regard to lighting, ventilation, water supply, drainage and structural conditions; (iii) milking must be cleanly carried out and all utensils
scalded or sterilised;
(iv) in England and Wales milk, with certain exceptions,
must be cooled;
(v) milk from cows recognisably diseased must not be sold; infectious persons must not be employed to milk cows or handle milk;
(vi) milk must be properly protected in transit.
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(B) Provisions administered by county councils and county
borough councils :
(vii) local authorities may appoint veterinary inspectors for the purposes of the acts; they are required to have herds examined by these inspectors in the circum- stances discussed later (paragraph 118); they may arrange for inspection over and above that required by the order.
(C) Provisions administered by various authorities :
(viii) all local authorities may take samples of milk;
(ix) designations of milk are defined, and selling of milk under the designation is forbidden except under licence granted-
118.
(a) to the producers of milk from tuberculin tested
herds, by the Ministry of Health;
(b) to producers of other graded milk, by county or county borough councils, or if they are unwilling to act, by district councils;
(c) to sellers of all graded milks who are not
producers, by sanitary authorities.
The provisions with regard to veterinary inspection are carried out with varying degrees of effectiveness. In Scotland all dairy herds must undergo a clinical examination at least once in every year. Experience has shown that this minimum frequency is not enough, and the Department of Health for Scotland has succeeded in persuading the councils of sixteen counties containing about 36 per cent. of the dairy cow population to provide three or more inspections a year. In England and Wales the position is less satisfactory. The requirements of the law are set out in the following extract from circular no. 757, addressed on the 20th January, 1927, by the Ministry of Health to the local authori- ties concerned. It may be explained that section 4 of the act of 1915 requires that any medical officer of health who has reason to suppose, e.g., as the result of the testing of a milk sample, that milk from a particular source is infected with tuberculosis, shall notify this fact to the medical officer of health of the county or county borough in which the farm supplying the milk is situated. The latter is then under an obligation to arrange for the cattle upon the farm in question to be examined, and for other necessary steps to be taken with a view to discovering the source of infection. Article 8 of the order of 1926 requires county and county borough councils to make such inspections as are necessary for the purposes of the act of 1915 and the order of 1926. The passage in question
runs:-
"18. The Minister's view is that the minimum which could be regarded as satisfying the requirements of article 8 of the
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