In what countries is chalav yisrael not required for milk?

Question

The Talmud says milk is not kosher unless a Jew supervises the milking, to be sure it's just kosher-animal milk.

Assuming one goes by the ruling of R' Moshe Feinstein and others that "knowing" is considered like "seeing", the combination of regulation and economics in the USA is such that we know that commercial milk is 100% cow's milk. (Okay there's added vitamins but they're batel, that's a different topic.) Hence we drink "chalav stam" a.k.a. "chalav hacompanies" a.k.a. "non-chalav yisrael" or call it what you will. (And those who drink only chalav yisrael usually accept R' Moshe at some level and treat their practice as a chumra [a chumra recommended by R' Moshe himself in many cases].)

In other countries of the world: Can you do the same? Or is traditional Jewish supervision required? In which countries?

This is a "moooot" point in Israel as there will be Jews working in the dairy farms; and theoretically you could have a country where the regulation and economics are there, but everyone follows the local rabbi who rejects R' Moshe's argument, though I'm not aware of any such place.

Answer 1

For Europe in general, from http://www.koshergermany.com/travellersguide.html :

Milk and Milk Products: In most European countries no "Cholov Yisroel" or its derivatives are available. Those who care should take with them from Israel long-life milk and hard cheese. The following advises are meant for those who use non-Jewish milk (trefa-milk does not exist today!). Even those who use non-Jewish butter in general, should refrain from using light butter, since it is not kosher. Some use non-Jewish cream, others do not. Coffee cream is less problematic than non-Jewish milk. Yoghurt without fruit is allowed. Non-Jewish hard cheese (such as Gouda, Emmentaler etc.) is forbidden, but soft cheese (as Philadelphia) and cottage cheese are not considered as cheese in this respect and are permitted.

It is interesting to compare this with the language in the Kosher product lists of France, the Netherlands and Switzerland, linked from here: http://www.cisonline.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=176&Itemid=176 and here: http://www.irgz.ch/. They, (as well as the Swiss Kosher list) certainly bestow "recommended" status on plenty of non-chalav-yisrael dairy items. Regarding milk, the language in the Dutch list is somewhat akin to the LBD:

Waar in Nederland geen melk, karne- of koffiemelk o. r. t. verkrijgbaar is, kan men noodgedwongen de producten zonder toezicht kopen.

which means "in areas in the Netherlands in which no milk, buttermilk or condensed milk under the O.R.T.'s hechsher is available, one may, out of necessity, buy these products without supervision."

Answer 2

Community wiki, feel free to add:

• United Kingdom -- London Beis Din prefers chalav yisrael but says regular milk is okay.
• Canada -- I assume?
• South Africa -- the Johannesburg Beth Din allows regular milk, but also indicates which of the products it supervises are Chalav Yisrael, and classes them as Mehadrin.
• Netherlands -- See Yosef's answer above

Answer 3

See here footnote 38, which discusses the OU policy about countries that at least have the regulation, even though they don't have government inspection. (Basically the OU will allow it if they find the company to be in fear of the government). This ends up including China, Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine.

However, I have heard from someone in the Kashrus industry that more recently the major Kashrus organizations agreed to stop allowing milk from India and China without it being Cholov Yisroel, based on a specific, extensive investigation.

Some have called Mexico a failed state, however the local certification does certify non-cholov yisroel. I don't know how accepting those outside Mexico are of that.

I do think that ultimately those who are more lenient are relying on the economic incentives more than the government supervision (as really Rav Moshe Feinstein does himself at some point in his Teshuvas, pointing out the huge cost of covering it up vs. the gain of using non-cow milk). There is simply no real industrial logic in using non-cow milk in industrial production in most of the world today.

Answer 4

Rav Moshe Feinstein's p'sak was only for U.S.A. and Canada. Being that there was (and still is!) much controversy surrounding his p'sak, and due to the fact that it involves a complex discussion, I have heard from some of his students that it only applies to where he said so.

Answer 5

I've bought chalav stam in kosher-certified supermarkets in Israel. Most modern orthodox and liberal religious go with the rabbanut kasherut standards which do not require chalav Israel. Local rabbinates are more stringent, though. I remember the case of a friend's friend who kept a diary coffee shop in Tel-Aviv. The mashgiach refused to give a te'udah since the owner was using Nutella on the crêpes: paradoxically this product had Italian rabbinic certification accepted by the rabbanut ha'rashit and marked as chalav nochri. But the rabbinate of sin-city Tel-Aviv is more machmir and required chalav Yisroel!