Food safety Haumarutanga kai

To sell food you need to have a registration under the Food Act 2014.

Businesses that need a food registration certificate to sell food include:

• restaurants, cafes and takeaway shops
• dairies, supermarkets and online stores
• food stalls and food trucks
• food manufacturers and growers, like brewers or honey producers
• transport businesses that handle food.

To apply for a registration first you need to work out the level of registration you need.

Find out which level applies to you

From 1 July 2025, MPI will begin charging - via councils - a new levy (mandatory fee) for all food businesses. The new levy was created under the new legislation and is for MPI to complete (at a national level) education, support to meet food safety standards, increased monitoring and enforcement, national campaigns and updated rules and standards.

The levy is a compulsory annual charge for each food business being phased in over three years (increasing each year) and includes an $11 administration fee.

More information about the levy is available on MPI's website.