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Application Process

The following information is required in order to process an application for approval:

• Application form
• Description of the (proposed) food safety management system based on HACCP principles
• Description of the (proposed) establishment and equipment maintenance arrangements
• Description of the (proposed) establishment, equipment, and transport cleaning arrangements
• Description of the (proposed) waste collection and disposal arrangements
• Description of the (proposed) water supply
• Description of the (proposed) water supply quality testing arrangements
• Description of the (proposed) arrangements for product testing
• Description of the (proposed) pest control arrangements
• Description of the (proposed) monitoring arrangements for staff health
• Description of the (proposed) staff hygiene training arrangements
• Description of the (proposed) arrangements for record keeping
• Detailed scale plan of the (proposed) establishment showing the location of rooms and other areas to be used for the storage and processing of raw materials, product and waste, and the layout of facilities and equipment

Information that is not submitted at this time will delay the processing of your application.

Once an application has been received an officer from the commercial team will arrange to visit the premises and will want to understand the food processing intended.  Approval may at this stage be granted either fully or conditionally for three months. 

Where a conditional approval is granted you will be informed in writing about the terms of the approval.  If at the end of the three months you have complied with the terms of the approval you can then expect a further visit, whereupon you will either be granted full approval, a further three months conditional approval (conditional approval shall not exceed a total of six months) or you will be refused approval. 

At all stages you can expect to be kept fully informed as to the status of your approval.  Where approval is either refused or only conditional you also have certain rights of appeal.

Those premises who receive full approval will be allocated a unique identification mark (an oval mark) which should then be applied to labelling or packaging on products to make it clear that approval has been granted.  The approval will be notified to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) who maintain a national database of all Approved milk and dairy premises and all Approved meat products premises.

Determination of the application will require a site visit and an officer will contact you within 14 days of receipt of the completed application in order to arrange this. 

You will be advised in writing within 28 days following the determination of your application for approval.

Tacit Consent

Yes. This means that you will be able to act as though your application is granted if you have not heard from the local authority by the end of the target completion period.

The target time period is 28 calendar days.

If you are applying in person or by post the local authority will not normally acknowledge receipt of registration unless requested to do so.

Background and Eligibility Criteria

If your food business makes, prepares or handles food of animal origin and supplies to other premises (even within your ownership) as a significant part of your overall business, you may need formal Approval instead of food premises registration from the council. There are however certain exemptions to approval.

If your business is a slaughterhouse or meat cutting plant, it will need to be approved by the Food Standards Agency.

Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 requires manufacturers of foods containing products of animal origin (POAO), such as dairies, meat product manufacturers or wholesale fish markets to gain local authority approval before they start trading. Please also view Regulation (EC) 852/2004.

Fees

There are currently no fees associated with this process.

Supplementary Information

Approval is a form of ‘licence’ for any businesses wishing to handle, prepare or produce certain foods, and approval must be granted (either fully or conditionally) before the food can be sold. Approved premises must meet high food hygiene standards, and make sure that they can trace where all their ingredients have come from so that they can make sure their food is safe.

Premises that are approved by the local authority must display an oval health mark on their products (or foods can be accompanied by a health certificate if going to another food factory). Anyone buying food, whether from the supermarket or in bulk for their business, can then see that the high risk food they are buying meets high food hygiene standards.

Each local Authority in the country (and places across the EU) has a unique code which ensures that the origin of the food can always be established. This is very important in ensuring the safety of high risk foods, as it means that these high risk foods can be traced directly back to the factories that produced them.

There are certain exemptions to approval. If the food business supplies food of animal origin to the final consumer, i.e. the person who eats the food product, then they are exempt from approval. Additionally there may be an exemption available depending on the extent to which the business wishes to supply food of animal origin to other businesses. Please contact the commercial team for clarification.

If any details relating to your approval should change at any stage you are required to notify the council in writing of the change, at the earliest opportunity.

Offences and Penalties

A food business will be committing an offence if it places on the market foods that are subject to the relevant requirements of EC Regulation 853/2004 & 852  /2004 without having prior approval.

To commence business without approval is an offence for which the business may be prosecuted. 

Applicants will be notified in writing of the reasons for refusal and of the actions that will be necessary to meet the relevant requirements of food law for approval.

Once approval has been refused activities that require approval may not be undertaken by the business without full or conditional approval.

Food businesses that start or continue to trade without approval will be committing an offence.

Consumer Complaint and Other Redress

Failed Application Redress: Contact the Local Authority in the first instance.  In the event of the application being refused you will be notified of the reasons in writing and the matters necessary to satisfy approval requirements.

Applicants have a right of appeal against a decision to refuse approval. Appeals must be made to the local  Magistrates Court within one month of the date of the written refusal.

Licence Holder Redress: Contact the Local Authority in the first instance. Where approval is only conditional you also have certain rights of appeal.

You will  be advised of your right of appeal to the Magistrates Court.

Consumer Complaint: View our consumer complaints procedure.

Regulations and Guidance