How the legislation affects you will depend on the size and type of your business.

There are a number of new EC Regulations, which apply directly to food businesses in the UK, and also national legislation in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Do you need to register your business.....

Most food businesses will need to register all of their premises with their local authority before they open (or before starting to use new premises). At the moment this is required under the Food Premises (Registration) Regulations 1991. From January 2006, this will be required under EU regulations.

Food business operators whose establishments are required to be registered should approach the relevant local authority. If you have registered your premises already and have not changed the type of work you do, you don?t need to register them again.

The premises for certain types of businesses need to be approved, rather than registered, including those producing the following foods:

meat and meat products

eggs

milk and dairy products

fish and fish products

Food business operators whose establishments require approval should approach the relevant local authority.

The approval requirements do not apply to primary producers. As food businesses they have to be registered with the relevant authority. However, this will not be a new requirement for most farmers as existing forms of registration may be used to meet the requirement. Therefore, if farming businesses are already known to Agriculture Departments, their agencies, such as the Rural Payments Agency or the State Veterinary Service, or local authorities, then this will satisfy the requirement.

If information is not already held on any of these databases, then it is the responsibility of the food business operator to contact the relevant authority.

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