2007 Minnesota Statutes

32.394 GRADE A PASTEURIZED MILK.
    Subdivision 1. Grade A pasteurized bacteria counts. Grade A pasteurized milk, fluid milk
products and goat milk are Grade A raw milk, fluid milk products and goat milk for pasteurization
which have been pasteurized, cooled and prepared for distribution in a dairy plant approved by
the commissioner, the bacterial count of which at no time after pasteurization and until delivery
exceeds 20,000 bacteria per milliliter. The coliform count must not exceed ten per milliliter except
that bulk tank transport shipments must not exceed 100 per milliliter. The standard plate count
standard shall be omitted in the case of sour cream, cultured buttermilk, other cultured fluid milk
products and cultured goat milk; provided further that the commissioner may prescribe standards
and rules adopted in accordance with law more stringent than those imposed by this subdivision.
    Subd. 2. Grade A raw bacteria counts. Grade A raw milk or goat milk for pasteurization
purposes is raw milk or goat milk which complies with all the requirements for its production, the
bacterial count of which does not exceed 100,000 bacteria per milliliter prior to commingling with
other producer milk at which time the bacteria count must not exceed 300,000 per milliliter prior
to pasteurization. The commissioner may prescribe standards and rules adopted in accordance
with law more stringent than those imposed by this subdivision.
    Subd. 3. Exemption. Nothing in this section shall be construed to mean compulsory
grading of pasteurized milk, pasteurized fluid milk products, pasteurized goat milk, raw milk for
pasteurization, or raw goat milk for pasteurization; such grade shall apply only to pasteurized
milk, pasteurized fluid milk products, pasteurized goat milk, raw milk for pasteurization, or raw
goat milk for pasteurization on which the grade is declared on the label.
    Subd. 4. Rules. The commissioner shall by rule adopt identity, production, and processing
standards for milk, milk products, and goat milk which are intended to bear the Grade A label.
    In the exercise of the authority to establish requirements for Grade A milk, milk products,
and goat milk, the commissioner adopts definitions, standards of identity, and requirements for
production and processing contained in the "Grade A Pasteurized Milk Ordinance" of the United
States Department of Health and Human Services, in a manner provided for and not in conflict
with law.
    Subd. 5. Sales as Grade A milk. No person shall sell, offer or expose for sale, any milk,
milk products or goat milk labeled Grade A, unless the milk, milk products or goat milk have
been produced and processed in accordance with the requirements of Minnesota law and rule.
Any processor desiring to use the Grade A label on milk, milk products or goat milk shall
make application for a permit to the commissioner on a form prescribed and furnished by the
commissioner. The permit shall be issued by the commissioner when the commissioner has
determined that the applicant has complied with the requirements of Minnesota law and rule.
Permits shall not be transferable with respect to person or location. A permit may be suspended
by the commissioner upon failure by the holder of the permit to comply with any of the terms
of Minnesota law and rule or for interference with inspection, and may be revoked by the
commissioner for due cause after the holder of the permit has been given the opportunity for a
hearing, in which case the holder of the permit shall be given a notice in writing of the time and
place of such hearing at least seven days before the date of such hearing.
    Subd. 6. Inspection service. To assure compliance with the laws and rules governing the
production, handling, processing, and sale of Grade A milk, Grade A milk products and Grade A
goat milk, the commissioner is hereby authorized to provide a service to be performed by trained
and duly qualified milk sanitarians, for the inspection of such milk, milk products and goat milk,
and of the premises and plants where such milk, milk products and goat milk are produced,
handled and processed. Such service shall be for acquainting the processor and producers with the
requirements for a Grade A milk supply, for preliminary inspection to determine if a processor
has brought the processor's farms and plant to the state of compliance which will qualify the
processor's products for the Grade A label, and for continuous inspection to assure that any farms
and plants so accepted and all products therefrom so labeled shall remain in compliance. Said
Grade A processor shall provide a continuous field service to assist the producers, who sell their
milk to the processor's plant, to attain and to maintain compliance with Grade A requirements.
Any person who performs such field service for such Grade A processor first shall obtain a
permit therefor from the commissioner. Any person desiring to secure such permit shall make
application therefor on a form provided by the commissioner, and before a permit is issued the
commissioner shall determine that the applicant is competent and qualified to perform such
field service. Said permit shall not be transferable and may be revoked for due cause after the
holder of the permit has been given the opportunity for a hearing in which case the holder of the
permit shall be given a notice in writing of the time and place of such hearing at least seven
days before the date of such hearing.
    Subd. 7. Availability. The aforesaid state service shall be available to all processors who wish
to use the Grade A label on their milk, milk products and goat milk and who have not available to
them substantially equivalent service, imposed with equal effectiveness by a city within the state.
    Subd. 8. Grade A inspection fees. A processor or marketing organization of milk, milk
products, sheep milk, or goat milk who wishes to market Grade A milk or use the Grade A
label must apply for Grade A inspection service from the commissioner. A pasteurization plant
requesting Grade A inspection service must hold a Grade A permit and pay an annual inspection
fee of no more than $500. For Grade A farm inspection service, the fee must be no more than
$50 per farm, paid annually by the processor or by the marketing organization on behalf of its
patrons. For a farm requiring a reinspection in addition to the required biannual inspections,
an additional fee of $45 per reinspection must be paid by the processor or by the marketing
organization on behalf of its patrons.
    Subd. 8a. Laboratory certification. A laboratory, before conducting a test the results of
which are to be used in the enforcement of requirements for distribution of milk, milk products or
goat milk under the Grade A label, must be certified as meeting the requirements for laboratory
approval that are established by rule of the commissioner, and must receive a permit from the
commissioner. The permit shall remain valid without renewal unless suspended or revoked by the
commissioner for failure to comply with the requirements. Satisfactory analytical procedures and
results for split samples, the nature, number and frequency of which shall be in accordance with
rules established by the commissioner, shall be required of a certified laboratory for retention of
its certification and permit.
An application for initial certification or biennial recertification, or for recertification
following suspension or revocation of a permit shall be accompanied by an annual fee based on
the number of analysts approved and the number of specific tests for which they are approved.
The fee is not less than $150 or more than $200 for each analyst approved and not less than $35
or more than $50 for each test approved. The commissioner may annually adjust assessments
within the limits established by this subdivision to meet the cost recovery of the services required
by this subdivision.
    Subd. 8b. Manufacturing grade farm certification. A processor or marketing organization
of milk, milk products, sheep milk, or goat milk who wishes to market other than Grade A milk
must apply for a manufacturing grade farm certification inspection from the commissioner. A
manufacturing plant that pasteurizes milk or milk by-products must pay an annual fee based on
the number of pasteurization units. This fee must not exceed $140 per unit. The fee for farm
certification inspection must not be more than $25 per farm to be paid annually by the processor
or by the marketing organization on behalf of its patrons. For a farm requiring more than the one
inspection for certification, a reinspection fee of $45 must be paid by the processor or by the
marketing organization on behalf of its patrons.
    Subd. 8c. Grade A or manufacturing grade raw milk. Grade A or manufacturing grade
raw milk must not have been stored longer than 72 hours when it is picked up at the farm by the
receiving plant. The commissioner or an agent of the commissioner may waive the 72-hour
time limit in a case of hardship, emergency, or natural disaster. On farms permitted or certified
for bulk tank storage, the milk may only be picked up from approved bulk milk tanks in proper
working order.
    Subd. 8d. Processor assessment. (a) A manufacturer shall pay to the commissioner a fee for
fluid milk processed and milk used in the manufacture of fluid milk products sold for retail sale in
Minnesota in an amount not less than five cents and not more than nine cents per hundredweight
as set by the commissioner's order except that beginning July 1, 2003, the fee is set at seven cents
per hundredweight and thereafter no change within any 12-month period may be in excess of
one cent per hundredweight.
(b) Processors must report quantities of milk processed under paragraph (a) on forms
provided by the commissioner. Processor fees must be paid monthly. The commissioner may
require the production of records as necessary to determine compliance with this subdivision.
(c) The commissioner may create within the department a dairy consulting program to
provide assistance to dairy producers who are experiencing problems meeting the sanitation and
quality requirements of the dairy laws and rules.
The commissioner may use money appropriated from the dairy services account created in
subdivision 9 to pay for the program authorized in this paragraph.
    Subd. 8e. Farm bulk milk pick-up tankers. Farm bulk milk pick-up tankers, milk
transports, and tankers used to transport milk products must be inspected and obtain a permit
issued by the commissioner annually by July 1. The owner or operator must pay a $25 permit fee
per tanker to the commissioner. The commissioner may appoint such persons as the commissioner
deems qualified to make inspections.
    Subd. 9. Payments; refunds; disposition. Fees are payable by a processor or marketing
organization by July 1 of each year for Grade A, and by January 1 of each year for manufacturing
grade, and if not paid within 30 days of the due date, the service must be discontinued, and
permission to market manufacturing grade or Grade A milk or milk products or use the Grade A
label must be withdrawn. A processor may terminate payment and service without loss of the
Grade A label if written notice of that intention is given prior to the due date of the payment of
an assessment and if the continuous inspection of the plant is assumed by a city whose milk
control ordinance is substantially equivalent to Minnesota law and rule and is enforced with equal
effectiveness. If a farm discontinues the production of milk within six months of the billing date, a
request for a refund based on inspection services not received may be made by the processor or by
the marketing organization on behalf of its patrons. This request must be made in writing by July
1 for manufacturing grade, or by December 31 for Grade A, and on approval by the commissioner
refunds must be made to the processor or marketing organization.
The fees for services performed by the activities of this section must be deposited in the
agricultural fund and constitute a separate account to be known as the dairy services account,
which is hereby created. Money in the account, including interest earned, is appropriated to
the commissioner to administer this chapter.
    Subd. 10.[Repealed, 1961 c 147 art 5 s 7]
    Subd. 11. Waiver of rules; water well distance requirement. A dairy farmer who wishes to
be permitted to produce grade A milk may not be denied the grade A permit solely because of
provisions in rules adopted by the commissioner of health requiring a minimum distance between
a water well and a dairy barn. To be eligible for a grade A permit, the following conditions
must be met:
(1) the water well must have been in place prior to January 1, 1974;
(2) the water well must comply with all rules of the commissioner of health other than the
minimum distance requirement; and
(3) water from the well must be tested at least once every six months in compliance with
guidelines established by the commissioner of agriculture unless the water from the well meets
water quality requirements for three consecutive years, in which case the water must be tested
only once every 12 months until the water fails to meet water quality requirements during one
of the tests.
    Subd. 12. Water testing guidelines. The commissioner of agriculture, in consultation with
the commissioner of health, shall establish guidelines for the testing required under section
32.394, subdivision 11, clause (3).
History: 1945 c 384 s 5; 1949 c 403 s 1; 1953 c 536 s 4; 1953 c 752 s 1; 1955 c 379 s 1;
1959 c 400 s 1; 1961 c 113 s 1; 1967 c 219 s 7-11; 1971 c 703 s 1,2; 1973 c 123 art 5 s 7; 1975 c
412 s 21-23; 1977 c 120 s 1,2; 1983 c 300 s 20; 1985 c 248 s 70; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 384 art 3 s
1; 1987 c 396 art 11 s 11-13; 1990 c 511 s 7-10; 1991 c 254 art 3 s 18-20; 1992 c 544 s 2,3; 1993
c 65 s 4,5; 1993 c 172 s 29; 1997 c 187 art 1 s 1; 1997 c 216 s 55; 1999 c 231 s 68; 1Sp2001 c 2 s
59-61; 2003 c 107 s 22,23; 2003 c 128 art 3 s 31-33; 2007 c 45 art 1 s 42