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All food businesses need to be registered before starting any food operations.
The law requires food business operators to register with their local council at least 28 days before beginning food operations. Each separate unit of the food business that carries out any of the stages of production, processing and distribution of food needs to be registered. The legal requirement to register is found in Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs.
Food premises include restaurants, hotels, cafés, shops, supermarkets, staff canteens, kitchens in offices, warehouses, guest houses, delivery vehicles, buffet cars on trains, market and other stalls, hot dog and ice cream vans, etc.
If you run food business establishments in more than one council area, you must register with each council separately. Moveable establishments like ice cream vans, burger vans etc should be registered by the food business operator with the council in whose area the vehicle is normally kept.
Are there any exemptions?
Certain food activities do not need to be registered because the EC Regulation does not apply to them. These include:
growing or producing food for private domestic use, for example keeping hens to supply eggs to your own family
the domestic preparation, handling or storage of food for private domestic consumption.
If in doubt about whether to register please contact the Food Safety team.
You must fill the application form in full. There is no fee to pay.
What happens next
When we receive your registration we will contact you with some new business advice. We will also carry out an un-announced inspection of your premises.
What happens if I close the food business or change how I work?
You must make sure we always have the latest information on your food business establishments. You must tell us about any significant changes of activity, or closure. You should tell us, preferably in writing and before the changes occur. If this is not possible you must tell us no later than 28 days after the change has occurred.
If there is a change in the operator of a food business establishment, the new business owner must tell us.
What happens to the information given on the form?
Information given on the form is stored on a database in line with the Data Protection Act.
We have to keep a register of all food business establishments registered with us. This is available for inspection by the general public at all reasonable times. It contains information about each food business:
name of the food business
address of the food business establishment
details and nature of the food business.
We may also give or send a copy of our list or any entry on it to any person who asks for this information. To view the register please contact Food and safety to arrange a time.
Tacit consent
We have a target completion period of 5 days for this notice. We aim to acknowledge your application and to begin processing it within this period. If you have not heard from us by the end of this period you will be able to act as though your application is granted.
Please note that this target period only begins when we get your complete application including any supporting documents.
If you have any problems with your application or would like more information then please contact us on 01792 635600 or email foodandsafety@swansea.gov.uk.
