Can I sell eggs in Wales?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in Wales?

The Regulations take one kind of sale out of their rules on eggs in shell. The Eggs and Chicks (Wales) Regulations 2010, 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" (Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008, Art. 1), 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". The region of production is "the area within a 80 kilometre radius of the boundary of the production site" and "any part of Wales that is outside that 80 kilometre radius". 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 an egg production site is a separate matter. The Registration of Establishments (Laying Hens) (Wales) Regulations 2004 do not apply to establishments "having fewer than 350 laying hens" (reg. 3), and say the Welsh Ministers "shall create and maintain a register of establishments" and must "allocate a distinguishing number" to each (reg. 4). Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008, Art. 1, defines a producer code as "the distinguishing number allocated to the production site in accordance with the legislation applying in the relevant constituent nation", and a production site as "an establishment keeping laying hens, registered in accordance with" the 2004 Regulations in Wales.

The guidance sends a Welsh farm to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), and the Agency's guide EMR01 (version 8, 17/09/2026) names the Agency's Egg Marketing Administrative Centre "If your premises is in Wales" and says the Agency also "works on behalf of" the Welsh Government. It 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 (see the answer on them). The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) page on egg marketing standards (last updated 12 December 2023), which says it covers Wales, 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". The 350 is the Regulations' too; the 50-hen registration is in no regulation we read, and the Regulations' "up to 50 laying hens" and the guidance's wording differ at exactly 50 hens. We settle none (#1050).

Separately, EMR01 says "Producers who have poultry of any kind must register with the Poultry Register separately". The Welsh Government's page on registering birds says "It may be compulsory for you to register as a bird keeper." and sends the reader to gov.uk. 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, which says it covers Wales, says "You must register within one month of keeping poultry" and names the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2024, which we did not read. 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 Wales, 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 Hygiene (Wales) Regulations 2006, reg. 17(1), make a failure to comply with a "specified Community provision" an offence, which their Schedule 2 says includes the first paragraph of Art. 6(2). 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's guide, which says it covers Wales, 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 (Wales) Regulations 2010, regs. 3 and 8, Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Annex 7, Part 6, The Registration of Establishments (Laying Hens) (Wales) Regulations 2004, regs. 3 and 4, Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008, Article 1, APHA EMR01, version 8, "Registered producers", Defra: Egg marketing standards, Welsh Government: Poultry and other captive birds, registration rules and forms, Register as a keeper of less than 50 poultry or other captive birds, Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Articles 1 and 6, The Food Hygiene (Wales) Regulations 2006, reg. 17 and Schedule 2 and Food Standards Agency: Starting a food business.

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

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 (Wales) Regulations 2010, reg. 11(2), speak of "a producer with up to 50 laying hens"; the Registration of Establishments (Laying Hens) (Wales) Regulations of 2004, of establishments "having fewer than 350 laying hens"; 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". We did not read Regulation 2160/2003 itself.

Source: The Eggs and Chicks (Wales) Regulations 2010, reg. 11, The Registration of Establishments (Laying Hens) (Wales) Regulations 2004, reg. 3, 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 Wales?

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 "in the case of 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). The producer code is a registered establishment's number and the 2004 Regulations register only those with 350 hens or more, so no source we read says how a farm with 51 to 349 hens gets a code to stamp (#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 sets out its own definitions in the words of another nation's Regulations, as a market held in the locality of the production site and any adjoining locality, or "within 60 miles of the production site whichever is the greater", leaving out "itinerant sales such as at the roadside (e.g. from lay-bys)", and then says "Similar principles are expected to be applied across Wales EMIs." We settle neither (#1051). Ask APHA before you rely on a market.

Source: The Eggs and Chicks (Wales) Regulations 2010, regs. 3, 8 and 11, Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Annex 7, Part 6, point III, The Registration of Establishments (Laying Hens) (Wales) Regulations 2004, reg. 3, APHA EMR01, version 8, "Producers who do not need to be registered" and its definitions and Defra: Egg marketing standards, "Mark your eggs".

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

Not ungraded. The exemption in reg. 8(2) of the Eggs and Chicks (Wales) Regulations 2010 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", and reg. 10(1) of the Welsh Regulations designates the Welsh Ministers as "the competent authority" for their authorisation.

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 (Wales) Regulations 2010, regs. 3, 8 and 10, 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 Wales?

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 (Wales) Regulations 2010 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, or the Food Information (Wales) Regulations 2014. 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 (Wales) Regulations 2010, 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 Wales, 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 Wales?

The egg marketing rules are for hens. Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008, Art. 1, 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.