This article is from page 79 of the 2008-03-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 79 JPG
WITH the days fast counting down to the beginning of the new Depart- ment of Agriculture scheme to cross- check the milk testing by co-ops, the IFA has come in with its support for the initiative.
According to IFA National Dairy Committee Chairman Richard Kennedy, the scheme, due to begin on April 1, is in line with the Gov- ernment’s Partnership commitment to the IFA.
This protocol of verification will cover the testing of all constituents used for payment, audit of lab pro- cedures, check calibration of ma- ATEN Tom AMV ICM URANO OComBUch UO LRCMECTo OL! back to farmers. Results of the cross-
checks will be published by the De- partment.
Kennedy commented that while this new protocol was welcome, it was only the first step in raising the standards of Irish milk testing to in- ternational best practice, paving the way for full accreditation of central, independent milk testing laborato- ju Coe
“I believe this move will help focus the minds of all in the dairy industry on the importance of proper stand- ards in milk testing, from sample taking, all the way to the returning of results to both farmers and proc- essors, he said.
‘However, I see it as merely the first step towards world-class ISO 17025 accreditation of a small number of
centralised milk laboratories, shared by all milk processors, which could easily be established on an independ- ent footing.”
Kennedy said the chances of achieving fully accredited, and ulti- mately independent, milk testing in one or a few central laboratories for all of Ireland’s milk have never been aoa Koa
“Dairygold have committed to out- sourcing their milk testing needs to a fully accredited third party lab by 2009,” he said.
“The West Cork Co-ops have de- cided to centralise all their milk test- ing into one, accredited laboratory. Connacht Gold are preparing to in- vest in new, accredited facilities and are willing to share those with other
neighbouring co-ops. The Chair- man of Lakeland Co-op has publicly expressed his support for a single, world-class milk testing lab.
‘Many other co-ops have declared to us they were seriously looking into accreditation for milk testing, and an increasing number of them have now recognised the importance for farm management purposes as well as accuracy of results, of testing every collection.
‘These strands all go in the right direction, but now they must come together. Co-ops must agree to share the use of a small number of fully accredited, world class standard fa- cilities – eventually ensuring that those are operated independently,’ Kennedy concluded.