Animal feed and food hygiene
If you make, use, market or transport animal feed, or are involved in the primary production of food, and the manufacture, mixing, storage and transportation of animal feeds, you need to be aware of the feed hygiene regulations.
Food Hygiene Regulations are intended to modernise, consolidate and simplify EU food hygiene legislation, giving a 'farm to fork' approach to food safety:
Who is covered?
The regulations apply to 'food businesses' and 'food business operators', defined as;
- Food business - any undertaking, whether for profit or not and whether public or private, carrying out any stage of production, processing and distribution of food
- Food business operator - means the natural or legal persons responsible for ensuring that the requirements for food law are met within the food business under their control
This covers any livestock farms, fish farms, arable farms, fruit farms, salad producers, 'pick your own' farms, market gardeners or bee keepers producing food for human consumption.
Registration
Producers are required to be registered with the local authority. If you are not registered, email trading.standards@norfolk.gov.uk.
Registration is free. See below for more details about how to register.
Activity requiring approval of establishment fee
Certain activities require approval and the following (VAT exempt) charges will apply:
- £451 - Manufacture only, or manufacture and placing on the market, of substances referred to in Article 10(1)(a) or (b) of Regulation 183/2005 other than those feed additives specified in regulation 2(4), or of premixtures of such additives
- £226 - Placing on the market of substances referred to in Article 10(1)(a) or (b) of Regulation 183/2005 other than those feed additives specified in regulation 2(4), or of premixtures of such additives
- £451 - Any of the activities referred to in Point 10 of the Section headed "Facilities and Equipment" in Annex II to Regulation 183/2005
Inspections
We make regular checks at Norfolk farms to make sure harmful substances do not enter the human food chain. We test the composition and labelling of fertilisers that are put on arable land used for food production and feed for food producing animals.
Trading Standards inspects and takes samples to check the hygiene of anything being grown or reared for human consumption. If hygiene standards are not met, we issue an Improvement Notice to make sure hygiene is improved and any risk to the public removed.
Producers that participate in an Assured Food Standards scheme (Red Tractor) are not inspected as often.
Feed Hygiene Regulations registration
If you are a feed business, including a farm, you must be registered with us.
More about Feed Hygiene Regulations registration