Recognition and access procedure for the profession of "state-certified food chemist" regulated by state law

The profession of "state-certified food chemist" is regulated in Germany. Anyone who wants to work in the official food and consumer goods control and use the professional title "state-certified food chemist" needs a permit. In order to obtain this permit, recognition of the foreign qualification is required. Citizens of a member state of the European Union (EU) or a state party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) can submit an application for this.

The application for the recognition procedure is submitted to the competent authority. The competent authority checks the documents for equivalence on the basis of the applicable provisions of state law. It is checked whether the foreign qualification (in the case of an application from another EU or EEA state or Switzerland) corresponds to the German qualification. 

The competent authority is the highest state authority responsible for food control, the Ministry of the Environment, Energy, Food and Forestry.

• Ministry of Environment, Energy, Food and Forestry

A person has a legal right to the award of the CPC who:

• has successfully completed a course of study required for working as a food chemist at a German university or a comparable German university,
• has completed at least one year's practical training after completing their studies in an examination facility of the official food control or in an institution approved by the competent ministry or by the competent authority of another Land of the Federal Republic of Germany for practical vocational training,
• has not been guilty of conduct resulting in unreliability for the exercise of that profession, and
• is not incapable or unsuitable to exercise that profession because of a physical or mental impairment or addiction.

The application for recognition of the training acquired abroad is submitted informally in writing. The following documents must be submitted with the application:

• Diploma / proof of university degree,
• proof of nationality,
• Proof of the subject-related German language skills required for the exercise of the profession,
• proof of the contents of studies and training in the form of a study book, study regulations, examination regulations or in any other suitable manner, from which the study contents and the duration of the completed training for obtaining the proof of training are shown,
• Certificate of duration and type of previous professional activity in a member state of the European Union or another state party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or Switzerland.

Foreign-language documents must also be attached in an officially certified translation. The translation must have been carried out by a publicly appointed and sworn translator in Germany.

A fee of up to €250 will be charged for processing the application (depending on the time required).

There are no deadlines.

Once the documents have been submitted in full, the procedure takes a maximum of four months. 

• Provincial Act on the Implementation of Food and Consumer Goods Law (AGLBR) of 20 October 2010
• State Ordinance on Training and Examination for State-Certified Food Chemists (APOLMChem) of 19 August 2004

• IQ State Network Rhineland-Palatinate