Meat processing Apply for authorisation

Since 01.01.2006, new food law regulations, the so-called EU hygiene package, have been in force in all EU member states. This means that, with a few exceptions, all businesses that handle and process food of animal origin for trade and place it on the market require approval. This applies in particular to all businesses that handle or process meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk and so on.

Approval is a prerequisite for placing foodstuffs on the market at all, regardless of where these foodstuffs are sold. In principle, all businesses that place products of animal origin on the market require approval.

This does not apply to businesses that only

• carry out primary production
• carry out transportation activities
• store products whose storage does not require temperature control
• carry out certain retail activities

Establishments that fall under the definition of retail and whose supply of food of animal origin is an ancillary activity at local level are exempt from the licensing requirement.

The following types of business are subject to the licensing requirement unless one of the above exceptions applies (this list is not exhaustive):

• All self-slaughtering butchers or direct marketers, at least for the activity of slaughtering
• Retail businesses, including butchers without their own slaughtering, which supply other retail businesses (e.g. own branches, restaurants, stores, company canteens) with more than 1/3 of their production quantities of food of animal origin and which supply businesses more than 100 km away
• Commercial kitchens that supply more than 1/3 of the production volume of food of animal origin to other retail businesses
• Establishments that supply their own products of animal origin to other approved establishments
• Milk processing plants, cheese manufacturers
• Fish processing plants
• Egg packing centers
• Repacking plants
• Game processing plants

The following establishments in particular are exempt from the licensing requirement:

• Gamekeepers who kill their farmed game in the enclosure and eviscerate it in a suitable place on the farm of origin
• supply of small quantities (up to 10,000 head/year) of poultry and lagomorphs that have been slaughtered on the (own) farm and are sold by the producer to the end consumer or to local retailers
• Supply of primary products such as game in the blanket, raw milk, preferred milk, eggs (except for packing stations), honey, fish, provided that it has not been further treated beyond killing and gutting

The final decision as to whether a food business operator must be approved or not can only be made on the basis of the individual circumstances of the business and the activities carried out in the business.