Can I sell eggs in England?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in England?

The Regulations take one kind of sale out of their rules on eggs in shell. The Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2009, reg. 8(2)(a), say Part 3, "Eggs in shell for consumption: general requirements", does not apply to eggs "sold, without any quality or weight grading, directly to the final consumer by the producer" either "on the production site" or "by door-to-door selling in the region of production". A "final consumer" is "the ultimate consumer of a foodstuff who will not use the food as part of any food business operation or activity", and "door-to-door selling" is "a sale which is made during an unsolicited visit by a producer to the final consumer's home, or to the home of another person, or to the final consumer's place of work". Where the exemption is used, "no quality and weight grading may be used" (Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Annex 7, Part 6, point I(2)).

Registering with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is a separate matter, and the Agency's guide EMR01 (version 8, 17/09/2026) says it "is not an authoritative nor complete statement of the law". It says "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 APHA EMI", and asks a producer to register for "350 or more hens" or "50 or more hens and any of your eggs are marketed at local public market". Eggs sold to shops, restaurants or bakeries "must first be graded as Class A", which takes authorisation as a packing centre. The Registration of Establishments (Laying Hens) (England) Regulations 2003 define an establishment as "any site at which 350 or more laying hens are kept". The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) page on egg marketing standards (last updated 12 December 2023) lists the same cases: "have 350 or more hens", "have 50 or more hens and you sell ungraded eggs at a local public market" and "send any of your eggs for grading at a registered egg packing centre". Its wording and the Regulations' differ at exactly 50 hens, and we settle neither (#1050).

Separately, EMR01 says "Producers who have poultry of any kind must register with the Poultry Register separately". Defra's egg page says of a flock of fewer than 50 birds "you should register your birds", while the registration page for fewer than 50 birds says "You must register within one month of keeping poultry"; the registration page is the later, so ask APHA which governs (#1054).

Registering a food business is another question again. Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Art. 6(2), as it applies in England, says "every food business operator shall notify the appropriate competent authority, in the manner that the latter requires, of each establishment under its control that carries out any of the stages of production, processing and distribution of food, with a view to the registration of each such establishment", and the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013, reg. 19(1), make a failure to comply an offence. Art. 1(2)(c) says the Regulation "shall not apply to" "the direct supply, by the producer, of small quantities of primary products to the final consumer or to local retail establishments directly supplying the final consumer", so Art. 6 does not apply to a supply inside that exclusion. No source we read says what "small quantities" are, or whether a particular egg sale is one. The Food Standards Agency says "If you supply food regularly" to the public, "then you need to register as a food business", and names no egg or farm. We cannot say whether a farm egg sale needs a registration (#1052). Ask your local authority's environmental health team.

Source: The Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2009, regs. 3 and 8, Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Annex 7, Part 6, APHA EMR01, version 8, "Registered producers", The Registration of Establishments (Laying Hens) (England) Regulations 2003, reg. 2, Defra: Egg marketing standards, Register as a keeper of less than 50 poultry or other captive birds, Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Articles 1 and 6, The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013, reg. 19 and Schedule 2 and Food Standards Agency: Starting a food business.

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

The lines in the sources are in hens, not in eggs or dozens, and no source we read limits the eggs a small flock may sell. The Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2009, reg. 11(2), speak of "a producer with up to 50 laying hens"; the Registration of Establishments Regulations of 2003, of "any site at which 350 or more laying hens are kept"; APHA's guide EMR01, of "350 or more hens" and "50 or more hens and any of your eggs are marketed at local public market". The wording at exactly 50 hens differs between them (#1050).

Salmonella testing follows the 350. EMR01 says "All producers with 350 or more laying hens need to carry out environmental sampling for salmonella", and Defra's page says a producer need not comply with the national testing programme if "you have fewer than 350 hens and you supply directly to the consumer or through local retailers".

Source: The Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2009, reg. 11, The Registration of Establishments (Laying Hens) (England) Regulations 2003, reg. 2, APHA EMR01, version 8, "Salmonella National Control Programme" and Defra: Egg marketing standards, "Salmonella control in flocks of laying chickens".

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in England?

A local public market is the one place away from the farm that the Regulations name. Reg. 8(2)(b) keeps Part 3 off eggs sold ungraded "directly to the final consumer by the producer in a local public market in the region of production", except for the producer-code marking, and reg. 11(2) lifts that marking for "a producer with up to 50 laying hens if the name and address of the producer are indicated at the point of sale". APHA's guide says a producer with fewer than 50 hens need not register but "will need to display labelling required under Food Information Regulations (name of the food, your name and address, best before date and advice to consumers to keep eggs chilled)", and Defra's page lists "your name", "your address", "the best before date (maximum of 28 days from date of lay)" and "advice to keep eggs chilled after purchase". It adds: "Some markets have their own rule that you must stamp the producer code on hen eggs." No regulation we read states those four items for an ungraded sale, so they are the two pages' words. The guide says eggs carry the producer code when "sold at a local public market (unless the producer has 50 hens or less)", and Defra's page says to stamp ungraded eggs at a market if "you have over 50 hens", so a farm with exactly 50 hens should ask (#1050).

What counts as a local public market is two readings. The Regulations, reg. 3(1), say "a public market that is within an 80 kilometre radius of the boundary of the production site", and a temporary market is one "with not less than five stalls, stands, vehicles (whether moveable or not) or pitches from which articles are sold" for which a notice under section 37(2) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 has been given. APHA's guide gives the market as one held in the locality of the production site and any adjoining locality, or "within 60 miles of the production site whichever is the greater", and leaves out "itinerant sales such as at the roadside (e.g. from lay-bys)". We settle neither (#1051). Ask APHA before you rely on a market.

Source: The Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2009, regs. 3, 8 and 11, Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Annex 7, Part 6, point III, APHA EMR01, version 8, "Producers who do not need to be registered" and "Definitions within England" and Defra: Egg marketing standards, "Mark your eggs".

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

Not ungraded. The exemption in reg. 8(2) of the Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2009 is for a sale "directly to the final consumer", and a final consumer "will not use the food as part of any food business operation or activity", so a shop, a restaurant or a bakery is not one. Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008, Art. 5(1), says "Only packing centres shall grade and pack eggs and label their packs".

Defra's page says "To sell eggs to shops, catering outlets or restaurants you must also register your premises as an egg packing centre. Only egg packing centres can grade eggs. The eggs must be graded as Class A for retail and catering", and that a packing centre must "apply to your local authority environmental health department to be approved as a food business operator". APHA's guide says eggs sold to shops, restaurants or bakeries "must first be graded as Class A".

Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Art. 1(2)(c), speaks of "local retail establishments directly supplying the final consumer". It is a hygiene rule, not the egg marketing rule, and no source we read says one lifts the other. Ask APHA.

Source: The Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2009, regs. 3 and 8, Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008, Art. 5, Defra: Egg marketing standards, "Register as an egg production site" and "Register as an egg packing centre", APHA EMR01, version 8, "Registered producers" and Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Article 1.

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

The rules on packs are for graded eggs. Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008, Art. 12, sets what a pack of Class A eggs bears, Art. 13 fixes the date of minimum durability "at not more than 28 days after laying", and Art. 17 says "packs shall be shock-resistant, dry, clean and in good repair". The Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2009 list those Articles in Schedule 2 ("Marking of packs of Class A eggs") among the provisions whose breach is an offence, and reg. 8(2)(a) takes an ungraded sale on the production site or door to door out of Part 3. No regulation we read prints a carton label for such a sale, or says whether a carton may be reused. Ask APHA.

At a local public market the labelling is the guidance's: the four items in the answer on markets, which APHA's guide says are "required under Food Information Regulations". We did not read those Regulations. Defra's page says "To sell your eggs at local public markets you must still display" them.

Source: Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008, Articles 12, 13 and 17, The Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2009, reg. 8 and Schedule 2, APHA EMR01, version 8, "Producers who do not need to be registered" and Defra: Egg marketing standards, "Mark your eggs".

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

No regulation we read sets a temperature for an ungraded egg sold direct. For Class A eggs, Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008, Art. 2(3), says they "shall not be treated for preservation or chilled in premises or plants where the temperature is artificially maintained" below a set figure. APHA's guide says "Whilst eggs should not be chilled during marketing, to minimise risk to quality and safety that may arise due to temperature variations, eggs should be kept chilled once purchased by the final consumer to maximise quality", and "Eggs must be kept clean, dry and out of direct sunshine at all times". A market stall displays "advice to keep eggs chilled after purchase" (Defra's page). Ask your local authority's environmental health team.

Source: Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008, Article 2, APHA EMR01, version 8, "Quality grading and storage of eggs" and Defra: Egg marketing standards, "Mark your eggs".

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

The egg marketing rules are for hens. Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008, Art. 1(k), defines eggs as eggs in shell "produced by hens of the species Gallus gallus", and Defra's page says "This guidance is for businesses that produce or pack hen eggs for human consumption". Poultry registration is wider: "If you keep 50 or more chickens, ducks or other poultry, of any mix, you must register your poultry with APHA". None of the sources we read says what a sale of duck or quail eggs needs, and Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Art. 1(2)(c), speaks of "primary products" without naming eggs. Ask your local authority's environmental health team before you sell them.

Source: Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008, Article 1, Defra: Egg marketing standards and Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Article 1.