Selling your produce – demystifying the legislation

1. Selling your produce – demystifying the legislation

2. Who is selling?

3. Benefits of Selling • Raise general unrestricted funds • Publicise your group or specific project • Generate funds in order to help make a particular project self-sustaining

4. What to Sell? • More than just veg - examples from around the table

5. Produce

6. Legal Issues Legislatives Regulations and Acts Food Hygiene (Wales) Regulations 2006 The General Food Regulations 2004 Marketing of Fresh Horticultural produce (Wales) Regulations 2009 Food Labelling Regulations 1996 Jam and Similar Products (Wales) Regulations 2004 The Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations 2007 Food Safety Act 1990 The Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 Weights & Measures Act Various Allotment Acts Organic Products Regulations 2009

7. Legislation • Environmental Health – food safety Registration, premise checks, monitoring, HACCP, waste streams • Trading Standards – your product is what it says? Organic, homemade, weights, how are you selling it and what in? • Licensing – regulating trading activity Contact your local authority licensing department when selling goods or holding one off events

8. Environmental Heath Registration applies to most types of food business, including shops selling food, catering businesses run from home and mobile or temporary premises, such as stalls and vans Who? you MUST register via you local Environmental Health Office, a department of your local council Process is 1) fill in a form 2) issued with a Safer Food Business Pack (lots of guidance) 3) advisory visit 4) 28 day cooling period for you to complete recommendations if needed 5) revisit, your premises and your procedures will be checked and vetted to issue a score and a risk rating

9. Environmental Health (cont) Not to onerous but you must have a separate sink for washing your hands, chemicals must be stored separately, must have access to a toilet for staff which can’t be directly off the kitchen, a domestic kitchen can be used, effective cleaning schedules must be recorded. Any vehicles used must be clean and fit for purpose, and you can’t transport food in the same area as other items such as chemicals, fuels etc.

10. Which ones are illegal?

11. Trading Standards • Who? Local Authority Trading Standards Service provides advice to businesses to help them comply with the law Lots of legislation for all sorts of products e.g. selling in bunches, units of weights, labelling, price marking, consumer protection (organic/free range), rules for greengrocers, bakers, butchers, fishmongers, honey producers, jam and jellies etc

12. Trading Standards (cont)Fresh Produce • Scales must be crown stamped or sold as legal for food use • You can only sell in metric, but can show the imperial weight as well, so long as it is not more prominent • You must display the prices, on or very near the produce and you must say what it is i.e. Tomatoes • See ‘Guide to selling fruit and vegetables’

13. Licensing • Who? Local Authority Licensing Department • Regulating trading activity • • A street trader’s license - if you intend to regularly sell produce from your project you may require an annual street trader’s license • • A market operator’s license - may be required for your annual open event if you intend to invite stallholders (up to 10) who will keep a proportion or all of their takings. Where all proceeds go directly back to your charity a licence is not necessary. • • A charitable collection permit - is free and allows you to collect money for your charity either on or off site for up to 7 days a year. NB only one of these days can be a Saturday.

14. Options for Selling it

15. Further Resources • Contact katie.trent@farmgarden.org.uk • Speak to your local trading standards & EHO officers • Look at Food Standards Agency web site http://www.food.gov.uk/wales • https://www.gov.uk/licence-finder