Can I sell eggs in Queensland?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in Queensland?

Safe Food Production Queensland says a person who produces eggs and sells or supplies them needs an accreditation from it: "If you are producing eggs in Queensland, and selling or supplying them to others, then you must hold an accreditation with Safe Food Production Queensland (Safe Food)." It says "It doesn’t matter how many poultry birds or eggs you have, an accreditation with Safe Food is still required.", and lists "Selling eggs at their farm gate", "Selling eggs at farmers markets" and "Selling/ bartering eggs on Facebook Marketplace" among the sales it covers. We found no number of hens, eggs or dozen below which it does not apply.

The law behind it is the Food Production (Safety) Act 2000, s 79(2): "The person must not engage in the production of the primary produce other than under an accreditation." The Regulation, s 27, makes "a person who has the management and control of a business that engages in an accreditation activity" the one who "must be accredited", and its egg scheme (s 96(1)) covers "producing eggs at an egg production farm" and "off-farm sales of eggs", an off-farm sale being "the sale of an egg from an egg production farm direct to the public or a retailer". The Act's maximum for s 79 is "2000 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years".

What the Act leaves out is not a small seller. Section 6(2) does not apply to "primary produce possessed by an individual for the individual’s own use", or to "the production of primary produce carried out by an individual" unless the produce is "supplied, or intended for supply", and the Act's dictionary says "supply includes" to "distribute, give or sell". Safe Food's scheme page lists as not needing accreditation "keeping birds as pets and not selling the eggs" and "using eggs for personal consumption". Its article counts "Giving eggs away to friends, family, and neighbours from backyard chickens" and "Schools giving eggs away to staff, students and others from on-site poultry" among the activities that do.

You apply first: "You must successfully apply for accreditation before you start operating." The application takes a management statement or food safety program, a biosecurity map, site and floor plans and photos, and "Biosecurity Queensland Property Identification Code" with a registration "as a biosecurity entity". The Biosecurity Act 2014 makes a keeper a registrable biosecurity entity at "for designated birds—100", birds "kept for human consumption or to produce eggs for human consumption"; whether a farm with fewer than 100 birds registers before it applies, no source we read says (#1075). Safe Food also asks you to "check if your proposed activities need approval from" "your local council".

Money, as the page read on 2026-10-12 prints it (it carries no date): "Producing: $658.75", and "Fees include a $188.07 application fee which is not refundable." "Accreditation fees are not charged on a pro-rata basis." and "All accreditations expire on 31 December each year." A renewal fee in dollars is on none of the pages read (#1079). "A compliance audit is required as part of your application and ongoing renewal of your accreditation.", charged separately at "Current fee: $352.20 per hour (plus GST)." Its Salmonella page says "At a minimum, testing is required to be conducted during each accreditation period (annually)."

The national text sits under all of this. Standard 4.2.5 of the Food Standards Code, in the compilation of 29 November 2018 that the Federal Register shows as current, applies to "the direct sale of eggs to the public by an egg producer" and has the producer "operate according to a food safety management statement"; the Regulation says its egg scheme "gives effect to particular requirements of the food standards code". A variation registered on 1 December 2025 amends that Standard and Standard 2.2.2; the Register dates the amended Standards from 3 June 2027 (#1077). We settle none of it. Ask Safe Food Production Queensland.

Source: Safe Food Production Queensland: Is It Legal to Sell Eggs in Queensland?, Safe Food Production Queensland: Egg Food Safety Scheme, Safe Food Production Queensland: Egg producer (farm), Food Production (Safety) Act 2000, ss 6, 79 and the dictionary, Food Production (Safety) Regulation 2014, ss 27, 94 to 96, Safe Food Production Queensland: Apply for accreditation, Safe Food Production Queensland: Accreditation holders, Safe Food Production Queensland: Salmonella testing for egg producers and processors, Biosecurity Act 2014, ss 135A, 137, 141 and 145, Food Standards Code, Standard 4.2.5, clauses 1 and 3 and Food Standards (Proposal P1060) Variation.

How many eggs can I sell without a license in Queensland?

The sources read set no limit on the eggs or the hens of a seller, and no weekly or monthly amount, before the accreditation applies: Safe Food Production Queensland says "It doesn’t matter how many poultry birds or eggs you have, an accreditation with Safe Food is still required." The one number we found tied to a flock is the Biosecurity Act 2014's. "A designated bird is a captive bird that—(a)is kept for human consumption or to produce eggs for human consumption; or", the threshold number is "for designated birds—100", and a keeper at that number "keeps the threshold number or more" and so is a registrable biosecurity entity (s 141(1)), who must "apply for registration" (s 145(1)). Business Queensland says "one hundred or more birds". Safe Food's egg producer page asks every applicant for a "registration as a biosecurity entity" and names no number of birds; whether a smaller farm registers first is not settled (#1075).

The money is in Australian dollars. Safe Food's fees page, undated, lists "Producing: $658.75" with a $188.07 application fee in it. The Regulation sets its fees in fee units, 429.45 for the producing activity and 171.60 for the application (schedule 1), and does not give a unit's value, so a renewal in dollars is not on the pages read (#1079). A producer that supplies one accredited processor only, under a "preferred supplier arrangement", pays no accreditation fee (s 30(1)(b)) and, on Safe Food's page, "cannot sell eggs to the public or anyone else".

Source: Safe Food Production Queensland: Is It Legal to Sell Eggs in Queensland?, Biosecurity Act 2014, ss 135A, 137, 141 and 145, Business Queensland: Registering as a biosecurity entity, Safe Food Production Queensland: Egg producer (farm), Safe Food Production Queensland: Apply for accreditation, Safe Food Production Queensland: Egg Food Safety Scheme and Food Production (Safety) Regulation 2014, ss 29, 30 and schedule 1.

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Queensland?

Safe Food Production Queensland counts a farmers market among the places that take the accreditation: its article lists a person who produces eggs and is "Selling eggs at farmers markets". Its scheme page leaves one kind of sale to the council: "selling eggs as a retailer (except if you sell eggs directly from your farm gate). Retail egg sales are regulated by your local council under the Food Act 2006." A market's own terms are the market's, and none of the sources read states them.

The Food Act 2006 is a separate Act. The Food Production (Safety) Act says "This Act is in addition to, and does not limit, the Food Act 2006." The Food Act, s 48(1), makes a food business that "involves the sale of unpackaged food by retail" licensable, s 49 asks for a licence, and s 48(2)(a) leaves out a business that "consists only of" "the production of primary produce under an accreditation granted under the Food Production (Safety) Act 2000, part 5". It defines unpackaged food as food other than food "sealed in a package at a place other than the food business that sells it by retail in that package", and says "temporary premises" include "a stall or a tent". The Food Regulation 2026, s 3, prescribes for s 48(2)(k) "food mentioned in schedule 1, part 1", a list of cereals, flour, sugar, syrups, spreads, noodles and the like; eggs are not on it. Whether a producer selling its own eggs at a stall is a licensable retail seller, or only an accredited producer, no source we read says (#1076). Ask Safe Food Production Queensland and your council.

Source: Safe Food Production Queensland: Is It Legal to Sell Eggs in Queensland?, Safe Food Production Queensland: Egg Food Safety Scheme, Food Production (Safety) Act 2000, ss 5 and 6, Food Act 2006, ss 48 and 49 and the dictionary, Food Regulation 2026, s 3 and schedule 1 and Food Production (Safety) Regulation 2014, s 96.

Can I sell eggs to a restaurant, a store or someone who resells them in Queensland?

A farm that sells its eggs to a store or a restaurant is still the producer, and the egg scheme covers it: the Regulation, s 96(1)(e), takes in "transporting eggs or egg products" "from an egg producer, egg processor or wholesaler to a retailer, manufacturer or commercial premises", and an off-farm sale is one "direct to the public or a retailer". Standard 4.2.5, cl 10(4), has an egg producer "have a system to identify to whom eggs or egg pulp is sold or supplied".

The buyer who only resells is another case. Safe Food says "If you are only selling eggs in Queensland, without producing the eggs yourself or repacking them on behalf of others, then you will not require an accreditation with Safe Food, but still have obligations under Australia’s Food Standards Code." Its article names "Packing eggs on behalf of someone else (e.g. re-packing large catering packs into dozen egg cartons and selling them)" as an activity that takes one. Standard 2.2.2 says "Eggs for retail sale or for sale to a *caterer must be individually marked with the producer’s or processor’s unique identification."

A producer that supplies one accredited processor only is in a "preferred supplier arrangement" ("supplying eggs under a Preferred Supplier Arrangement (PSA)"): the Regulation, s 30(1)(b), takes no fee from it, and Safe Food says it "cannot sell eggs to the public or anyone else".

Source: Food Production (Safety) Regulation 2014, ss 30 and 96, Food Standards Code, Standard 4.2.5, clause 10, Safe Food Production Queensland: Is It Legal to Sell Eggs in Queensland?, Food Standards Code, Standard 2.2.2 and Safe Food Production Queensland: Egg Food Safety Scheme.

Do I need to grade or label my eggs in Queensland?

Each egg is stamped, and each carton is marked. The Regulation, s 104(1): "An accreditation holder who produces eggs must not supply the eggs unless the holder has marked each egg, and each carton or package containing the eggs, with the holder’s egg production identification in the way stated in the holder’s approved program or management statement." The identification is "the person’s unique identification, approved and registered by Safe Food". Safe Food's egg producer page has an applicant describe the "unique identification applied to each egg (including stamp and use of food-grade ink)" and says "You can check our egg register to see if an ID has already been used"; the register it links needs a script and we did not read it.

The national text says the same of the egg. Standard 4.2.5, cl 10(1): "An egg producer must not sell eggs unless each individual egg is marked with the producers’ unique identification." Standard 2.2.2 asks it of every egg for retail sale, and Safe Food says "Egg stamping is a requirement in Queensland, even for eggs that come from interstate." A cracked or dirty egg is not sold: the Regulation, s 105(1), says "A person must not supply an egg for sale if the person knows, or ought reasonably know, the shell of the egg" is cracked or has "visible faeces, soil or other matter on the shell". Safe Food's guideline of April 2015 lists as an unacceptable egg "An egg which does not have a unique identifier stamped on it".

No source we read sets a grade, a size, a weight or a date for an egg sold in Queensland, any wording for a carton beyond the identification, or says whether a carton may be reused. The variation due from 3 June 2027 keeps the marking in Standard 4.2.5, cl 10(1), as "uniquely marked to identify the egg producer" (#1077).

Source: Food Production (Safety) Regulation 2014, ss 104 and 105, Safe Food Production Queensland: Egg producer (farm), Food Standards Code, Standard 4.2.5, clause 10, Food Standards Code, Standard 2.2.2, Safe Food Production Queensland: Is It Legal to Sell Eggs in Queensland?, Safe Food Production Queensland: Guidelines for Egg Cleaning Procedures (April 2015) and Food Standards (Proposal P1060) Variation.

Do eggs have to be refrigerated to sell in Queensland, and at what temperature?

No instrument we read sets a temperature for a producer's eggs held at the farm or sold at a stall. The Regulation, s 38(3), says of transport by an accreditation holder that "the conditions under which the produce is transported must include time limits and temperature controls to prevent, reduce or control pathogenic growth." Standard 4.2.5 asks that an egg producer "operate according to a food safety management statement", which is the farm's own and which Safe Food approves, so a temperature, if any, is in that statement. Ask Safe Food Production Queensland what yours should say.

Safe Food's guideline of April 2015 says "Eggs should be kept below 15°C prior to cleaning." and "Never cool eggs rapidly before cleaning.", a guideline for cleaning and not a rule for selling. The variation due from 3 June 2027 adds a clause 9B on storing and transporting eggs, which has the producer "ensure that the time and temperature conditions under which those activities are undertaken do not make the eggs or egg pulp unsafe or unsuitable" (#1077).

Source: Food Production (Safety) Regulation 2014, s 38, Food Standards Code, Standard 4.2.5, clause 3, Safe Food Production Queensland: Guidelines for Egg Cleaning Procedures (April 2015) and Food Standards (Proposal P1060) Variation.

Can I sell duck, quail or other eggs in Queensland?

The scheme speaks of eggs, not hens' eggs. The Regulation's dictionary says "egg means a bird egg." and Standard 4.2.5 says "egg means an egg from any avian (bird) species, except ratites." A duck, quail or goose egg is within both. An emu or ostrich egg is a bird egg on the Regulation's words and outside the Standard's, and no source we read says how Safe Food treats it (#1078). The accreditation is the same for duck, quail and goose eggs: the Regulation's egg scheme "applies to eggs and egg products intended for human or animal consumption".

Source: Food Production (Safety) Regulation 2014, s 95 and the dictionary and Food Standards Code, Standard 4.2.5, clause 2.

Do I have to wash or candle my eggs in Queensland?

Washing is the farm's choice and Safe Food's approval. Its guideline of April 2015 says "Safe Food Production Queensland (SFPQ) does not mandate the washing of eggs." and "If an egg business chooses to wash eggs, the activity must be approved by SFPQ and effectiveness of the method must be validated." It adds "Dry cleaning procedures are permissible. However, prior to implementation the procedure must be discussed with SFPQ and be validated as being suitable to control food safety hazards." A dirty egg is not sold: "Dirty eggs must not be sold." Standard 4.2.5 defines "dirty egg means an egg that has visible faeces, soil or other matter on it."

Candling is how a crack is found. Standard 4.2.5 says "cracked egg means an egg which has a cracked shell which is visible, or visible by candling or other equivalent methods, and includes a broken egg." The Regulation's egg scheme covers "washing and grading eggs, including assessing eggs for cracks" (s 96(1)(g)), and Safe Food's scheme page names "washing or grading another person’s eggs (including checking for cracks)" as an activity that takes an accreditation of its own. For a farm grading its own eggs, the sources read treat it as part of producing and say nothing separate.

Source: Safe Food Production Queensland: Guidelines for Egg Cleaning Procedures (April 2015), Food Standards Code, Standard 4.2.5, clause 2, Food Production (Safety) Regulation 2014, s 96 and Safe Food Production Queensland: Egg Food Safety Scheme.