Source: NMC press release
The National Mastitis Council has a long history of supporting a reduction of the somatic cell count regulatory limit in the US. The first proposal NMC submitted to the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS) was in 1991, recommending a reduction to 500,000. Final conference action resulted in a reduction in the SCC limit to 750,000 effective in 1993.
NMC submitted several proposal to NCIMS to lower the SCC limit to 400,000 (the last proposal NMC submitted was in 2005) but each proposal was defeated.
During the National Mastitis Council 50th Annual Meeting, held January 23-26, 2011, in Arlington, Virginia, the NMC Board of Directors voted to submit another proposal to NCIMS, again recommending a reduction in the SCC limit in the US to 400,000.
NCIMS meets every two years to consider proposed changes to the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) and allied documents. These regulations establish the condition under which Grade A milk is inspected, produced, hauled, processed, stored and packaged. Conference participants include representatives from industry, government and educational institutions. Voting delegates are limited to state rating and enforcement agency representatives. All conference actions are subject to review and concurrence by the US Food and Drug Administration. The next conference is scheduled for April 28 - May 4, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. Additional information can be found at: http://ncims.org/
