§ 59a.18. Sampling and examination.
(a) Sampling and testing costs. Sampling and testing required under this section shall be at the expense of the permitholder or permit applicant, and shall be conducted by a Pennsylvania-approved dairy laboratory, an out-of-State dairy laboratory that is listed with the NCIMS or that operates in accordance with the current Evaluation of Milk Laboratories, Recommendations of the United States Public Health Service/Food and Drug Administration and current FDA 2400 Laboratory Series forms, or the Department.
(b) Certified milk plants, receiving stations and transfer stations; milk plants and transfer stations that receive Grade ‘‘A’’ milk. A milk plant, receiving station or transfer station shall comply with Appendix N of the Grade ‘‘A’’ PMO, regarding drug residue testing and farm surveillance, if it is certified under the NCIMS Interstate Milk Shippers Program, or if it receives Grade ‘‘A’’ milk.
(c) Noncertified milk plants and transfer stations. Milk plants that are not certified under the NCIMS Interstate Milk Shippers Program, and which do not receive bulk shipments of Grade ‘‘A’’ milk, shall obtain a representative sample of commingled milk for pasteurization each processing day. The sample shall be collected by a certified industry plant sampler and analyzed for Beta lactam drug residues in a laboratory as described in subsection (a). If a milk plant is not certified under the NCIMS Interstate Milk Shippers Program, does not receive bulk shipments of Grade ‘‘A’’ milk and produces that milk in accordance with a written quality control program addressing the use of animal drugs at that dairy operation, that milk plant may request a variance from the testing requirements in this subsection. The request shall be in writing and include a copy of the written quality control program. The Department may, on the basis of the request, issue a variance with respect to the requirements in this subsection. A variance issued under this subsection will be valid for no more than 1 year and may be renewed for additional periods of up to 1 year following the Department’s review of the quality control program and any onsite inspections the Department deems necessary to determine whether a successor variance should be issued.
(d) Drug residue testing. Drug residue screening test records shall be maintained on file by the permitholder for at least 2 years.
(e) Reference to applicable provisions of the Grade ‘‘A’’ PMO. The provisions of the Grade ‘‘A’’ PMO, in particular section 6 and Appendix N, regarding examination of milk and milk products and drug residue testing and farm surveillance, apply to this section to the extent described in § 59a.11 (relating to adoption of Grade ‘‘A’’ PMO).
(f) Interpretation of Grade ‘‘A’’ PMO. When milk is excluded from market under a provision of the Grade ‘‘A’’ PMO on the basis of an accumulation of violative test results and the accelerated sampling testing called for under the Grade ‘‘A’’ PMO results in the provisional or final return of milk to market, the Department will consider tests preceding the date of return to market in determining future accumulations of violative test results.
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