Registration Of Food Businesses

Starting a new food business can be exciting but there are rules to follow. These steps will help ensure you are making and selling food in a safe and suitable way.

Before you register your food premises please check if you need to talk to any of the following departments about;

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) website has lots of useful information including Template Food Control Plans, National Programme guidance material (English and translated) and the Public Register of all food businesses registered under the Food Act 2014.

Registrations for template food control plans are renewed every 12 months and national programmes every 2 years, we will remind you when this is due, including any conditions that may be added to your registration.

For registration and verification fees refer to the fees and charges for Environmental Health.

How To Register or Renew a Food Business

To run a business under the Food Act, you need to register with your local council or MPI. Who you need to register with depends on where you operate, and what type of food plan or programme you need. To find out which plan suits your business see the MPI My Food Rules tool.

Manawatū District Council has been working with the team at Business Connect to streamline the process for registering or renewing your food business. Business Connect is an online platform where businesses can manage licences and permits from across government in one place.

With Business Connect, registering and renewing a food business will be easier and more streamlined. Once you register to use Business Connect, most of your business details will be pre-populated thanks to integration with the New Zealand Business Number.

Overall, Business Connect aims to make things easier for small and medium business owners in New Zealand and offer a more consistent user experience across a range of application forms. Some of the benefits include:

one place to go to fulfil compliance requirements and track interactions across government
making regular renewals quick and easy through pre-populating information
sending automated renewal reminders for businesses
providing notifications on changes to application status
saving important documents to be reused in future

Click here to go to Business Connect

MDC Health team contact details: health@mdc.govt.nz or 06 323 0000

If you wish to complete a paper based application the forms are available below under ‘Relevant Documents’.