Under the Food Act 2014, some food businesses will operate under stricter food safety requirements than others. The Act will also apply in different ways to education providers and community organisations depending on what they do.
The Food Act 2014 came fully into force 1 March 2016. The MPI Food Safety website has information on the Act, application forms and Food Control Plan templates.
When you have found the site where you want to open a food premises, you'll need to contact the Council to check:
- With our planners that what you want to do is a permitted activity at that particular location
- With our Building Unit that any building or plumbing works have the correct building consents
- An Environmental Health Officer can provide advice before you start your business and to deliminary inspections at any stage of your development.
Registration of a Food Premises
When you are ready to register, you need to provide a copy of your site plan, the appropriate registration (single-site or multi site) and scope of operations form and submit to Council's Environmental Health Officers for approval. Fees apply.
You don't need to provide a copy of your template Food Control Plan when registering. However, the Food Act 2014 requires a business to keep a copy of their plan for as long as their registration is effective.
When a National Programme business applies to register with a Council they need to provide a site plan (physical design and layout), the scope of operations and appropriate registration form (single-site or multi site) and engage a verifier or verification agency and identify them in their application, and submit to Council's Environmental Health Officers for approval. To help you find a verifier, check the Food Safety website.
For a corner dairy that is part of the 'Retailers that handle food (but do not prepare or manufacture food)' sector you would look for an auditor who has the 'Retail Sale of Food' class of operation. An early childhood education service should select a verifier with the ‘eating houses (including takeaways)’ class of operation.