Production and/or circulation of food products is a fairly common type of activity among entrepreneurs. In 2023, the number of registered food market operators reached about 360,000.
Since the market operators are entrusted with the duty to ensure the quality and safety of food products, obtaining permits is one of such mandatory stages. In this article, we will discuss in more detail which permit documents are required for the production and/or circulation of food products.
The obligation of companies to obtain permits is stipulated in the Law of Ukraine "On Basic Principles and Requirements for the Safety and Quality of Food Products" (hereinafter - the Law). Such documents are issued on the basis of economic entities involved in the production and/or circulation of food products.
Importantly! The capabilities of the market operator include not only structures / a complex of structures, premises, buildings, equipment, other means, vehicles, as well as the territory used in the production and/or circulation of objects of sanitary measures.
Depending on which food products are produced and/or sold, enterprises can carry out their activities after:
1) capacity registration;
2) obtaining an operational permit for each such capacity.
What is the difference between regular registration and obtaining an operational permit?
Regarding the state registration of capacities.
According to Part 1 of Article 25 of the Law state registration are subject to capacity for the production and/or circulation of food products, for which an operating permit is not required.
The procedure for applying for the registration of facilities to the territorial bodies of the State Production and Consumer Service and the procedure for such registration is determined by the Procedure for state registration of facilities, approved by the order of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy dated February 15, 2024 No. 431.
We note! Each individual capacity of the enterprise, including a vehicle used as capacity for the sale of food products to end consumers, is subject to state registration.
Thus, the capacities of business entities must be subject to state registration. Only after entering information about capacities in the Register of market operators and their capacities, the enterprise can carry out activities in the production and/or circulation of food products.
Regarding the operating permit for capacity.
Such a permit document as an operating permit is obtained for production and (or) storage food products of animal origin. Such products include milk, meat, fish, molluscs and crustaceans, eggs, honey, their derivatives and other products made from animal parts, their individual organs and/or tissues.
The operating permit is also issued separately for each capacity.
The legislation also establishes certain exceptions, when obtaining an operating permit is not a mandatory condition for carrying out activities with food products of animal origin:
- primary production- breeding, cultivation of primary products, milking, breeding, maintenance of farm animals until their death (slaughter), harvesting of honey, other edible products of beekeeping, fishing of fish products, hunting;
- transportationproducts that require compliance with the temperature regime and cannot be stored at a temperature above 10 °C, remaining suitable for human consumption; storage products at a temperature below 10 °C;
- production and/or storage of products, the ingredients of which are exclusively products of plant originand/or processed products of animal origin;
- operation of facilities public catering, retail trade, production artisan food products, products of animal origin on small capacities.
The detailed procedure for obtaining an operating permit is established by the Procedure for issuing, refusing to issue, canceling, temporarily suspending, reissuing, and renewing the operation permit, approved by Resolution No. 27 of the Cabinet of Ministers dated January 12, 2024.
As you can see, the difference between state registration and obtaining an operating permit lies solely in which food products the enterprise plans to sell. If such a product is of animal origin, as a general rule, state registration is not enough.
Nevertheless, both the state registration of capacities and the obtaining of an operating permit are carried out according to almost the same procedure. The application is submitted by applying to the territorial bodies of the State Production and Consumer Service:
- personally or through an authorized person;
- through Tsnap;
- in electronic form, in particular through the Diya Portal.
State registration of capacities is a free administrative procedure. At the same time, you will still have to pay for obtaining an operating permit - currently it is 0.17 of the minimum wage established by law on January 1 of the calendar year in which the application for issuing an operating permit is submitted.
As you can see, the activity of production and (or) circulation of food products has certain nuances and peculiarities, and the correct processing of permit documents is an equally important stage for the successful implementation of such activities. Therefore, if you have any questions in this regard, please contact our law firm for a thorough consultation.
