The board will work on a regional level to help dairies to attain standards of safety and hygiene as well as providing financial help to finance projects aimed at improving efficiency.
"The basic aim of the Milk Board will be the development of milk production, processing and trade of milk and milk products," said a spokesman from the Ministry of Agriculture to CeeFoodIndustry.com. "As well as the protection of common interests of its members, the Milk Board will manage and control the origin, authenticity and quality of the trade products. The organisation will also define and control the quotes for production."
The spokesman also pointed out that a further objective of the board will be to decentralise the existing structure and to start concentrating on a regional basis in order to take into account the distinctly different characteristics of each different area of the country.
The management board will consist of 11 members - representatives from associations, traders, scientific institutes, and the Ministries of Agriculture, Economy, Finance and Health Care - but the precise appointments are still to be confirmed.
"The Board will make proposals to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry concerning distribution of funds for supporting production and will collect and process the information from the regional structures," the spokeman added. "It will preside over issues such as quality and origin of milk and milk products, as well as informing the relevant authorities if any violations occur."
The activities of the board will be funded directly by the government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
The move will also serve to help the dairy sector gear up for tighter EU regulations which would come into force if Bulgaria were accepted as a new member of the European Union. Currently the country's entry is mooted for 2007, but that is on the provision that it can meet all relevant EU requirements.