Keeping chickens at home for eggs

Egg Marketing Inspectors

Egg Marketing Inspectors (EMI) are now fully integrated into the  Animal Health executive agency.

EMI’s  are responsible for the enforcement of various pieces of legislation which cover the production and marketing of eggs, at all points of the marketing chain up to but not including retail & catering level, although the Inspectors are also authorised to conduct inspections at retail & catering premises where the need arises.

The EMI work throughout England and Wales, wherever eggs are produced, graded, packed, imported, exported, bought or sold. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own Inspection force.

4. Producers who do not need to be registered with an EMI
(a) If you have less than 350 hens and all the eggs you produce are sold directly to individual consumers at your farm gate or by door-to-door sales you will not need to register with an Egg Marketing Inspector. However, under separate legislation covering disease controls, if you have 50 or more birds (other than wild birds) of any species you will need to register with the GBPR. For further information use contact & link information under Other relevant contact information (page 17).
(b) If you sell some of your eggs at local public markets but have less than 50 hens then you will not need to register with an Egg Marketing Inspector, but you will need to display labelling required under Food Labelling Regulations (name of the food, your name and address, best before date and advice to consumers to keep eggs chilled) when selling your eggs in this manner.
You should also note the definition of local public market and door to door sales provided under the section titled Definitions within England & Wales.
The flow chart on page 18 should help you determine whether you need to be registered.

Full information is available from the Defra web site at

http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/food/industry/sectors/eggspoultry/faq/eggmarking.htm

Are farm gate/door-to-door sales of eggs from unregistered producers permitted?

Yes - producers with fewer than 50 birds are not required to be registered with Animal Health EMI nor with the Great Britain Poultry Register and do not need to mark their eggs with a producer code. They can sell these at their farm gate or locally door-to-door in the region of production. They may also sell them direct to consumers at a local public market in which case they must show their name and address and provide consumer advice to keep eggs chilled after purchase along with a best before date (maximum 28 days from lay) for the eggs. (section 4b of the EMR1 leaflet refers).

The main benefits of a registration system are ensuring fair competition, traceability for food safety purposes and animal welfare and disease control. Information on the location of egg producers is subject to data protection laws.

There is no charge for registration and registration forms and further information can be obtained from the Animal Health Egg Marketing Inspectorate (EMI).