Food business in Estonia: notice or activity licence

A company that produces, processes, stores, transports or sells food in Estonia is a food business operator. Before it starts, it must either file a notice of economic activities with the Agriculture and Food Board¹¹³¹ or, for the establishments the Food Act names, obtain an activity licence¹⁶. No state fee is paid for entering the data of a notice in the register or for resolving a licence application³⁰.

Information as of 11 November 2026. Every numbered statement of this page was checked in the official text named below and re-checked by a second reviewer on 2026-11-11. The page is general information, not legal advice; the authority decides on every application.

What the activity is

Under the Estonian Food Act (toiduseadus, "ToiduS"), "handling of food" means any activity in the stages of production, processing and distribution of food, as defined in Article 3(16) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002¹. The person responsible for the business is the "food business operator" (käitleja) within the meaning of Article 3(3) of the same regulation; for a company, its legal representative organises the performance of the Food Act's duties².

The ministerial list of handling areas, for example, names food e-commerce and mail-order trade, and brokering of food (including by e-commerce) for supply to another operator³.

Not covered: the private domestic activities excluded by Article 1(3) of Regulation 178/2002, including when they are carried out in an educational institution to teach pupils or in a welfare institution to teach, develop or assist its residents⁴. The Act does not apply to narcotic and psychotropic substances, tobacco or medicinal products⁵. Alcohol and water are covered only so far as other acts do not regulate them⁶.

The legal act and the authority

Toiduseadus (Food Act), redaction in force from 1 October 2026⁷.
Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs and Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin; the Food Act states that the food hygiene requirements are set in these two regulations⁸.
Majandustegevuse seadustiku üldosa seadus (General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act), which sets the general rules for notices and activity licences⁹.
Regulation No 63 of the Minister of Agriculture of 25 June 2014, whose Annex 1 lists the handling areas and food groups that need a notice and Annex 2 those that need an activity licence (redaction in force from 19 September 2025)¹⁰.

The competent authority is the Põllumajandus- ja Toiduamet (Agriculture and Food Board, "PTA"): the notice is submitted to it and it decides on licence applications¹¹. The data of notices and licences are entered in the state register of food and feed business operators (riigi toidu ja sööda käitlejate register), established under the Feed Act¹².

Who must apply

Notice of economic activities (majandustegevusteade). Every operator must notify PTA of each establishment in which it handles food within the meaning of Article 6(2) of Regulation 852/2004¹³. Article 6(2) requires each establishment that carries out any stage of production, processing and distribution of food to be notified for registration, and any significant change in activities and any closure to be notified as well¹⁴. Annex 1 of Regulation No 63 lists, among others, transport of food, packaging and freezing of non-animal and composite food, catering, retail trade, wholesale trade, and release of food for free circulation in Estonia¹⁵.

Activity licence (tegevusluba). A licence is required for handling food in¹⁶:

establishments that need approval under Article 6(3)(b) or (c) of Regulation 852/2004, including those handling products of animal origin for which Annex III to Regulation 853/2004 lays down requirements¹⁷;
retail establishments that handle food of animal origin supplied to the operator's own retail outlets or only to other retailers, unless that supply is marginal, local and restricted under the rules issued under ToiduS § 26(3);
catering in kindergartens, basic schools, upper secondary schools, health and welfare institutions, custodial institutions and the Defence Forces;
establishments storing food of animal origin in transit under Article 23(1) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2124.

Annex 2 of Regulation No 63 sets out the detailed handling areas: for example handling of meat, milk, fish and eggs, and packaging or freezing of meat, fishery, egg and milk products¹⁸.

Exemptions from the notice named by the Act: no notice is needed where the establishment needs a licence; where Regulations 852/2004 and 853/2004 do not apply to it (direct supply of small quantities of primary products by the producer); where the animal-keeping establishment is registered in the farm animal register; or where the operator holds an activity licence for handling medicinal products¹⁹.

Requirements for the applicant

Whether share capital, own funds, fit-and-proper or anti-money-laundering requirements apply is specified for the client's situation. The requirements below concern the establishment and its operation:

Conditions for the licence. A licence is granted if the operator and the establishment it uses meet the requirements of Regulations 852/2004 and 853/2004 and other relevant food law²⁰. Under Regulation 852/2004, approval follows at least one on-site visit²¹.
Premises and work organisation. The technical conditions and work organisation of the establishment must allow the legal requirements to be met; changes that may endanger food safety must be reported to PTA without delay²².
Self-checking (HACCP). The operator must check the compliance of food and handling (self-checking, enesekontroll), describe the measures in a written self-checking plan, and identify, control and record the critical control points under Article 5 of Regulation 852/2004²³. Article 5 requires permanent procedures based on the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) principles²⁴.
Staff. Staff handling food must have professional knowledge and know and follow the hygiene requirements; the operator must draw up a food hygiene training plan and train staff periodically²⁵. Health checks of staff follow the Communicable Diseases Prevention and Control Act²⁶.
Responsibility. The operator is responsible for the compliance of the food it handles and of its handling²⁷.

Documents filed with the application

For an activity licence, in addition to the general data required by the General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act, ToiduS § 9(2) requires²⁸:

Scope: the list of food groups to be handled; the designed and planned or actual handling capacity, including storage capacity.
Premises: a plan of the premises with the layout of equipment and of the internal water and sewerage networks (all water intake points numbered), showing the routes of food, packaging, waste and staff; the values of controlled temperature and/or humidity of the rooms.
Process: a technological flow chart with the parameters relevant to food safety and a short description of the technology.
Water: test reports of the water used, issued by a laboratory accredited for drinking-water analysis.
Hygiene plans: a cleaning and disinfection plan; a pest control plan; a plan for collecting, removing and disposing of food waste, animal by-products and other waste; the food hygiene training plan for staff.
Transport: data on the vehicles used for food and how vehicles and returnable transport packaging are cleaned.

A notice contains the general data required by the General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act and the handling area and food group²⁹.

State fee and processing time

State fee: none. No state fee is paid for entering the data of a notice in the register, nor for the resolution of an activity licence application³⁰.
Notice: the notice is filed before the activity starts³¹.
Licence: the authority resolves the application within 30 days of its submission; the period runs from the submission of all required data, and may be extended once by up to 30 days³². The authority may request additional information needed to check the requirements and set a reasonable deadline for it³³. Licensed activity may start only from the grant of the licence³⁴. The food licence carries secondary conditions (handling area and food group), and the rule that a licence is deemed granted when the deadline passes does not apply to a licence that must be granted with secondary conditions³⁵.

These are the law's time limits, not a promise of when the authority will decide.

What LexorCorp Global OÜ does for the client and how to order

Food business notices and licences are handled under the Activity licence application documentation service. Under that service LexorCorp Global OÜ checks the requirements of the act against the client's business, drafts the documents, assembles the application, submits it and follows up the authority's questions in writing. The client describes the activity and provides what the act requires of the company.

The service is application preparation, not legal advice; it does not include tax advice, an audit, meeting the premises or staff requirements of the act, or the state fee. The Agriculture and Food Board decides on the licence; no licence, date or decision can be promised.

The price and what it includes are shown on the service page. See Licensed activities in Estonia for how the service works.

Sources

ToiduS § 6(2) — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
ToiduS § 6(1) and (1¹) — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
Regulation No 63, Annex 1 rows 14 and 15 — text in force from RT I, 16.09.2025, 15 — in force 19.09.2025 (annexes in the wording of regulation No 79 of 15.09.2025, RT I, 16.09.2025, 14)
ToiduS § 1(2) — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
ToiduS § 1(3) — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
ToiduS § 1(4) — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
Riigi Teataja header — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
ToiduS § 26(2) — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
MSÜS §§ 14, 16, 19, 20 — text in force from redaction in force from 01.09.2025
Regulation No 63 § 1 — text in force from RT I, 16.09.2025, 15 — in force 19.09.2025 (annexes in the wording of regulation No 79 of 15.09.2025, RT I, 16.09.2025, 14)
ToiduS § 7(1), § 9(1) — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
ToiduS § 7(6), § 9(3) — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
ToiduS § 7(1) p 1 — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
Reg 852/2004 Art 6(2) — text in force from consolidated 24.03.2021
Regulation No 63 Annex 1 rows 7, 11–16 — text in force from RT I, 16.09.2025, 15 — in force 19.09.2025 (annexes in the wording of regulation No 79 of 15.09.2025, RT I, 16.09.2025, 14)
ToiduS § 8(1) — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
Reg 853/2004 Art 4(2) — text in force from original OJ L 139, 30.4.2004 (provision text; consolidated version 07.05.2026 listed)
Regulation No 63 Annex 2 rows 1–3, 5, 10, 11 — text in force from RT I, 16.09.2025, 15 — in force 19.09.2025 (annexes in the wording of regulation No 79 of 15.09.2025, RT I, 16.09.2025, 14)
ToiduS § 7(4); Reg 852/2004 Art 1(2)(c) — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
ToiduS § 10 — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
Reg 852/2004 Art 6(3) — text in force from consolidated 24.03.2021
ToiduS § 25(1)–(2) — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
ToiduS § 34(1)–(2) — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
Reg 852/2004 Art 5(1) — text in force from consolidated 24.03.2021
ToiduS §§ 27(2), 29(1)–(2) — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
ToiduS § 28 — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
ToiduS § 22(1) — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
ToiduS § 9(2) p 1, 3, 5–13 — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
ToiduS § 7(2) p 1 — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
ToiduS § 7(7), § 9(4); RLS checked — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026
MSÜS § 14(1) — text in force from redaction in force from 01.09.2025
MSÜS § 20(1), (3) — text in force from redaction in force from 01.09.2025
MSÜS § 19(6) — text in force from redaction in force from 01.09.2025
MSÜS § 16(4) — text in force from redaction in force from 01.09.2025
ToiduS § 10¹; MSÜS § 20(4) — text in force from RT I, 30.06.2026, 136 — in force 01.10.2026; MSÜS redaction in force from 01.09.2025

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