//
© 2026 Zoe. All rights reserved.
Zoe is a legal information platform. Always consult the Federal Register of Legislation for authoritative text.
Commonwealth legislation
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
These regulations govern the export of Australian dairy—milk, butter, cheese, eggs and powders—by setting hygiene and registration rules for factories and packers, product grading and chemical standards, strict packaging and labelling requirements, and pre‑export inspection and permits. They affect farmers, manufacturers, exporters and packers (and importers for re‑export) to protect food safety, prevent adulteration, and preserve Australia’s reputation for accurately labeled, high‑quality dairy in overseas markets.
Want the full deep dive?
Zoe can write the in-depth analysis on top of the summary above: how it works, who it affects and what each part actually does.
Direct links to the current provisions in Exports (Dairy Produce) Regulations.
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
STATUTORY RULES.
1962. No. 36.
REGULATIONS UNDER THE CUSTOMS ACT 1901-1960 AND THE COMMERCE (TRADE DESCRIPTIONS) ACT 1905-1950.*
I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the Customs Act 1901-1960 and the Commerce (Trade Descriptions) Act 1905-1950.
Dated this twenty-third day of May, 1962.
DE L’ISLE
Governor-General.
By His Excellency’s Command,
(sgd.) C. F. ADERMANN
Minister of State for Primary Industry and
for and on behalf of the Minister of State
for Customs and Excise.
EXPORTS (DAIRY PRODUCE) REGULATIONS.
PART I.—PRELIMINARY.
Citation.
Repeal and saving.
2.—(1.) The Statutory Rules specified in the First Schedule are repealed.
(2.) Every number and word allotted, certificate and permit issued, approval and notice given, appointment and declaration made, and brand, export establishment and appointed place registered under the Regulations repealed by the last preceding sub-regulation and in force or subsisting immediately prior to the commencement of these Regulations shall be deemed to have been allotted, issued, given, made or registered, as the case may be, under these Regulations.
Parts.
| Part | I. | —Preliminary (Regulations 1-6). |
|---|---|---|
| Part | II. | —General Provisions as to Exportation of Dairy Produce. (Regulations 7-8) |
| Part | III. | —Trade Descriptions. (Regulations 9-12). |
| Part | IV. | — Supervision, Inspection and Examination. (Regulations 13-20). |
| Part | V. | — Registration of Brands. (Regulations 21-26). |
| Part | VI. | — Miscellaneous. (Regulations 27-32). |
Definitions.
4.—(1.) In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears—
“appointed place” means premises registered under regulation 13 of these Regulations;
* Notified in the Commonwealth Gazette on 31st May, 1962.
3337/60.—PRICE 2S. 10/21.12.1961.
“butter fat” or “milk fat” means the fat of milk;
“butter concentrate” or “butter mix” means the substance obtained by adding and blending small quantities of one or more of the constituents of milk with dry butter fat;
“butter spread” means the substance obtained by adding and blending small quantities of one or more of the constituents of milk with butter;
“casein” means the protein precipitated in skim milk by the addition of acid (either added or formed by souring) or by the addition of rennet or any other suitable enzyme;
“cheese” means the substance obtained by coagulating milk by the addition of rennet or any other suitable enzyme or by the addition of acid and submitting it to subsequent treatment appropriate to the type of cheese desired;
“coverings” means all the principal coverings in which dairy produce is contained;
“cream” means that portion of milk in which, through mechanical separation, the greater part of the milk fat has become concentrated;
“creamery butter” means butter (other than whey butter) manufactured from centrifugally separated cream and not mixed or blended into milled butter;
“dairy produce” means any produce wholly or mainly made from milk, eggs or vegetable fat, and includes goods of the kinds specified or described in the first column of the Second Schedule;
“dried egg” means the product obtained by evaporating the moisture from liquid egg;
“dried milk products” means all dried preparations of which milk or a constituent of milk is a component, the trade description of which states milk to be a component;
“dry butter fat” means the fat obtained by melting butter at a temperature below the boiling point of water and separating the fat from the milk serum by centrifugal force;
“egg product” means dried egg, sugared dried egg or frozen liquid egg;
“export establishment” means premises registered under regulation 13 of these Regulations as an export establishment;
“ghee” means the pure clarified fat obtained from the milk of a cow, buffalo or goat;
“liquid egg” means the product obtained by separating the edible portions of eggs from the shells;
“long hundred” in relation to eggs, means ten dozen;
“margarine” means any fatty substances, whether compound or otherwise, containing animal fats or vegetable oils or both, prepared as a substitute for, or in imitation of, butter, and whether mixed with butter or not;
“milk” means cows’ milk;
“milled butter” means butter which is a mixture or blend of two or more creamery butters, originally packed under separate names or brands;
“officer” has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Commerce (Trade Descriptions) Act 1905-1950;
“package” includes bag, box, carton, crate, jar, tin and case;
“pasteurized”, in relation to milk or cream, means subjected to a process of heating to a temperature sufficiently high and for a time sufficiently long to ensure the destruction of active germ life contained in the milk or cream;
“preservative” means any preparation or chemical compound used as a preservative agent, and includes benzoic acid, boric acid, nitrous acid, fluoric acid, hydrogen peroxide, salicylic acid, sulphurous acid and formic aldehyde;
“processed cheese” means the product obtained by milling, blending and pasteurizing one or more types of cheese and by adding thereto an emulsifying agent;
“registered brand” means a brand registered under these Regulations;
“registered number” means the number allotted to an export establishment under these Regulations;
“registered word” means a word or combination of words allotted to an export establishment under these Regulations for use on choicest quality butter, cheese, eggs in shell or egg products;
“salt” means commercial sodium chloride;
“ship” includes aircraft;
“State” includes any Territory of the Commonwealth to which the Customs Act 1901-1960 and the Commerce (Trade Descriptions) Act 1905-1950 apply;
“sugared dried egg” means the product obtained by evaporating the moisture from liquid egg in which sucrose has been dissolved;
“the Approved for Export Stamp” means a stamp in accordance with the following design:—
“the Commonwealth Standardization Trade Mark” means a mark in accordance with the following design (being the design of Trade Mark No. 34,531) of which the diameter of the outer circle is two and three-quarters inches and the diameter of the inner circle is two and one-half inches:—
“the Department” means the Department of Primary Industry;
“the Minister” means the Minister of State for Primary Industry;
“the Secretary” means the person for the time being holding, or performing the duties of, the office of Secretary to the Department;
“whey” means the watery fluid of milk that is separated from the curd in the manufacture of cheese or casein;
“whey butter” means butter manufactured wholly from milk fat centrifugally separated from whey.
(2.) In these Regulations, any reference to a Schedule shall be read as a reference to a Schedule to these Regulations, and any reference to a Form shall be read as a reference to a Form contained in the Sixth Schedule.
(3.) Strict compliance with the Forms contained in the Sixth Schedule is not necessary and substantial compliance is sufficient.
Application of Regulations.
(a) ships’ stores brought to or shipped in Australia;
(b) dairy produce that is not, in the opinion of the Secretary, produced or manufactured in Australia; and
(c) dairy produce that is imported into Australia and held in bond.
Delegation.
6.—(1.) The Secretary may, in relation to a matter or class of matters, or to a State or part of the Commonwealth, by writing under his hand, delegate to an officer all or any of his powers and functions under these Regulations, except this power of delegation.
(2.) A power or function so delegated may be exercised or performed by the delegate with respect to the matter or to the matters included in the class of matters, or with respect to the State or part of the Commonwealth, specified in the instrument of delegation.
(3.) A delegation under this regulation is revocable at will and does not prevent the exercise of a power or the performance of a function by the Secretary.
PART II.—GENERAL PROVISIONS AS TO EXPORTATION OF DAIRY PRODUCE.
Exportation of dairy produce prohibited except subject to conditions.
7.—(1.) The exportation of dairy produce is prohibited unless—
(a) the dairy produce has been prepared or manufactured and packed in an export establishment;
(b) the dairy produce has been prepared or manufactured from milk or cream that has been filtered at an export establishment;
(c) in the opinion of an officer, the dairy produce is contained in packages which—
(i) will not cause or permit it to deteriorate;
(ii) will not impart a taint to it when stored; and
(iii) are sufficiently strong to enable them to be carried without breakage when subjected to ordinary treatment,
and is packed in such a manner and with such material as to ensure that it will arrive at its destination in a sound condition;
(d) the design, dimensions and nature of any label, brand or mark applied to the dairy produce, or to the coverings of the dairy produce, have been approved by the Secretary;
(e) the dairy produce complies with the conditions and restrictions (if any) specified in the second column of the Second Schedule opposite to the name or description of the dairy produce;
(f) in the case of butter (other than tinned butter), cheese (other than tinned cheese), margarine (other than tinned margarine), frozen milk, frozen liquid egg, dried egg and sugared dried egg, and eggs in shell, which have been inspected and examined in accordance with Part IV. of these Regulations—the goods comply with such of the conditions and restrictions specified in the Third Schedule as are applicable to that dairy produce;
(g) in the case of tinned butter, tinned butter concentrate, tinned butter spread, tinned margarine, tinned ghee and tinned dry butter fat, unless the Secretary otherwise approves—the goods are packed in tins the actual net weight of the contents of which are four ounces, six ounces, twelve ounces, sixteen ounces, twenty-four ounces, sixty ounces and multiples of one pound;
(h) the exporter holds a valid export permit issued under these Regulations in respect of the dairy produce;
(i) it is considered by an officer to be fit for export; and
(j) in the case of tinned goods—the letters “EX” are embossed or impressed on the tins.
(2.) Notwithstanding the provisions of the last preceding sub-regulation, the Secretary may certify that, on account of the use of any dairy produce for experimental purposes, or on account of special circumstances, it is not desirable that such of the prescribed conditions or restrictions as he specifies in the certificate should apply to that dairy produce, and thereupon the exportation of that dairy produce shall be exempted from the application of those conditions or restrictions.
Grades of butter and cheese.
8.—(1.) The grade of any butter, butter concentrate, butter spread, cheese or margarine shall, for the purposes of these Regulations, be determined by taking into consideration the flavour, aroma, texture (including body, grain and moisture) and condition (including colour, salting, packing and covering) of the butter, cheese or margarine, and points shall be allotted for those qualities which shall not exceed the following:—
| Flavour and aroma ........................................... | 50 points. |
|---|---|
| Texture .................................................. | 30 points. |
| Condition ................................................. | 20 points. |
(2.) Butter and margarine shall not be graded unless the temperature of the butter and margarine is not lower than 50 degrees Fahrenheit and not higher than 62 degrees Fahrenheit.
(3.) Butter, cheese or margarine that is graded at the number of points specified in the first column of the following table is in these Regulations referred to as being of the grade specified opposite to that number of points in the second column of that table:—
| Number of Points. | Grade. |
|---|---|
| Butter graded at 93 to 100 points inclusive................... | Choicest quality |
| Butter (including whey butter) graded at 90 to 92 points inclusive | First quality |
| Butter (including whey butter) graded at 86 to 89 points inclusive | Second quality |
| Butter (including whey butter) graded at 83 to 85 points inclusive | Pastry or Cooking quality |
| Cheese graded at 93 to 100 points inclusive .................. | Choicest quality |
| Cheese graded at 90 to 92 points inclusive ................... | First quality |
| Cheese graded at 86 to 89 points inclusive ................... | Second quality |
| Margarine graded at 90 to 100 points inclusive ................ | Table quality |
| Margarine graded at 83 to 89 points inclusive ................. | Cooking quality |
PART III.—TRADE DESCRIPTIONS.
Exportation of dairy produce prohibited unless trade description applied.
Trade description.
10.—(1.) Subject to the succeeding provisions of this regulation, the trade description of dairy produce intended for export shall—
(a) be in the form of a principal label or brand affixed to the dairy produce, or to the coverings containing the dairy produce, in a prominent position and in a conspicuous and reasonably permanent manner;
(b) contain in prominent and legible characters a true description of the dairy produce, together with the word “Australia”;
(c) be in the English language, unless the Minister permits the whole or portion of the trade description, other than the word “Australia”, to be in a language other than English;
(d) contain the registered number of the export establishment in which the dairy produce was prepared or manufactured; and
(e) in the case of manufactured goods, contain the date of manufacture.
(2.) Where the trade description is applied to the immediate containers of dairy produce intended for export—
(a) the Secretary may, subject to such conditions as he thinks necessary, permit the particulars referred to in paragraphs (d) and (e) of the last preceding sub-regulation to be marked by a code mark; and
(b) the particulars referred to in paragraph (d) of that sub-regulation may, if the containers are made of tin plate, instead of appearing on label, be embossed or impressed on the containers.
(3.) Subject to the next succeeding
This is an opening excerpt, not the complete document.