Applying for approval of a meat or food establishment
Where you need to apply for approval of a food or meat establishment, either the FSA or your local authority depending on the type of your establishment and your location.
Where you need to apply for approval of a food or meat establishment depending on the type of your establishment and your location.
Some meat and food establishments require approval before they can start operating. Depending on what activities you carry out and where you are based, you may need to apply for an approval from either the Food Standards Agency or your local authority.
Establishments approved by the Food Standards Agency
The following establishments must be approved by us before they start trading:
England and Wales
- slaughterhouses
- cutting plants
- game handling establishments
- wholesale meat market
Northern Ireland
- slaughterhouses
- cutting plants
- game handling establishments
- wholesale meat market
- collection centres of raw milk
- processing plants of liquid milk
- packing centres - packing and grading of eggs by quality and weight
You cannot start trading before receiving an approval. You must not commence any business activity which requires approval unless you have received conditional or full approval for your proposed activity from the FSA. If you start trading without approval, it is an offence which may lead to prosecution.
Establishments approved by local authorities
England and Wales
General establishments
- cold stores
- re-wrapping and re-packaging establishments
Meat establishments
- minced meat establishments
- meat preparations establishments
- mechanically separated meat establishments
- meat products processing plants
- rendered animal fats and greaves processing plants
- treated stomachs, bladders and intestines processing plants
- gelatine processing plants
- collagen processing plants
Fish and shellfish establishments
- live bivalve molluscs (LBMs) establishments including dispatch centres and purification centres
- establishments working with fishery products using factory and freezing vessels, processing plants, fresh fishery products, auction halls, wholesale markets
Dairy establishments
- collection centres of raw milk where it is cooled and filtered
- processing plants treating, processing and/or wrapping of dairy products (milk or any milk-based product)
Egg and egg product establishments
- packing centres - packing and grading of eggs by quality and weight
- processing plants - processing of egg products
- liquid egg plants - handling of unprocessed egg contents after removal of shell
Northern Ireland
General establishments
- cold stores
- re-wrapping and re-packaging establishments
Meat establishments
- minced meat establishments
- meat preparations establishments
- mechanically separated meat establishments
- meat products processing plants
- rendered animal fats and greaves processing plants
- treated stomachs, bladders and intestines processing plants
- gelatine processing plants
- collagen processing plants
Fish and shellfish establishments
- live bivalve molluscs (LBMs) establishments including dispatch centres and purification centres
- establishments working with fishery products using factory and freezing vessels, processing plants, fresh fishery products, auction halls, wholesale markets
Dairy establishments
- processing plants treating, processing and/or wrapping of milk-based products
Egg and egg product establishments
- processing plants - processing of egg products
- liquid egg plants - handling of unprocessed egg contents after removal of shell
How to apply for approval by the Food Standards Agency, approval assessment and right of appeal.
List of establishments approved by the FSA.
Application for a new establishment
Use our approvals service to apply for approval of your establishment by the FSA. You will need to create an account to use this service.
When we receive your application one of our veterinary officials will contact you within two weeks to arrange a visit to conduct an assessment.
Application for additional activities
Use our approvals service, if you are already approved as a meat establishment and want to apply for approval of additional activities or species.
Managing your application
Once you’ve submitted your application, you will be able to manage and track it in our approvals applications service.
England and Wales
Advisory visits
If you want to obtain approval for your establishment you may request an advisory visit. Advisory visits aim to help the you identify the welfare and hygiene requirements which may apply to your proposed approval activities. Areas of advice include building structure, equipment and facilities, operational hygiene considerations and HACCP, good practices, record management and standard operating procedures as well as animal welfare.
Advisory visits will be charged at a set fee which is payable before the visit is scheduled to take place. This fee for the financial year 1 April 2023 to March 2024 is £375.36 inclusive of VAT. This fee is strictly non-refundable.
You can request an advisory visit, when you submit your application form using our approvals service.
England and Wales
Important
EU references in FSA guidance documents
The FSA is updating all EU references, to accurately reflect the law now in force, in all new or amended guidance published since the Transition Period ended at the end of 2020. In some circumstances it may not always be practicable for us to have all EU references updated at the point we publish new or amended guidance.
Other than in Northern Ireland, any references to EU Regulations in this guidance should be read as meaning retained EU law. You can access retained EU law via HM Government EU Exit Web Archive. This should be read alongside any EU Exit legislation that was made to ensure retained EU law operates correctly in a UK context. EU Exit legislation is on legislation.gov.uk.
In Northern Ireland, EU law will continue to apply in respect to the majority of food and feed hygiene and safety law, as listed in the Northern Ireland Protocol, and retained EU law will not apply to Northern Ireland in these circumstances.
Approval assessment
As part of the approval process, we will assess:
- the equipment and infrastructure of your establishment
- your food safety management system, as part of the approval process.
You are not permitted to operate until a conditional approval has been granted.
After approval, one of our officials will return within three months to assess production and your compliance with all the hygiene requirements in:
- retained EU Regulation 852/2004 and retained EU Regulation 853/2004 for England and Wales
- Regulation 852/2004 and Regulation 853/2004 for Northern Ireland
Once approved, details of the premises together with information relating to types of foods produced are added to the lists of approved establishments.
Right of appeal
You have a right to appeal our decision if your premises is refused approval under food law.
You can submit an appeal one month from the date when you were notified of the decision.
You can find a full process overview for the approval of meat establishments in chapter 1 section 4 of the Manual of Official Controls (MOC). It also explains the circumstances in which we would remove your approval
Approval of food establishments in Northern Ireland: governance arrangements and approvals policy
List of approved food establishments
A full list of establishments, such as cutting plants and slaughterhouses, approved to handle, prepare or produce products of animal origin for which requirements are laid down in Regulation (EC) No 853/2004.
How to apply for approval by a local authority, approval process and right to appeal.
List of establishments approved by a local authority.
If you think you may need approval, please contact your local authority before applying.
When you don’t need to apply for approval
There are some exemptions from the requirement to be approved by a local authority, including:
- you only sell direct to the public
- you are a retail business supplying products of animal origin to other businesses (including caterers) on a marginalised, localised and restricted basis
Additionally, there may be an exemption available depending on the extent to which you wish to supply food of animal origin to other businesses. You should contact your local authority to determine whether you could claim such an exemption from the need for approval.
If a food business is exempted from the requirement to be approved, you must register your food business with the local authority at least 28 days before opening. If you are already trading and have not registered, you need to do so as soon as possible.
Apply for approval by a local authority
- England: Food premises approval (England)
- Wales: Food premises approval (Wales)
- Northern Ireland: Food premises approval (Northern Ireland)
Approval assessment
To obtain approval, establishments will have to meet all of the relevant requirements of:
- retained EU Regulation 852/2004 and retained EU Regulation 853/2004 for England and Wales
- Regulation 852/2004 and Regulation 853/2004 for Northern Ireland and other requirements of food law relevant to the type of food business in Northern Ireland
You cannot start trading before receiving approval. You must not commence any business activity which requires approval unless you have received conditional or full approval for your proposed activity from the local authority. If you start trading without approval, it is an offence which may lead to prosecution.
Once approved, details of the premises together with information relating to types of foods produced are added to the list of approved establishments.
Right of appeal
You have a right to appeal a decision made by the local authority that has refused to grant an approval.
You can appeal against that decision to the relevant court and must submit an appeal one month from the date when you were notified of the decision.