Registration and verification fees are separate as they cover different processes which occur at different times.

Registration Fees

Before anyone is permitted to prepare and sell food, the business must hold a Certificate of Registration under the Food Act 2014. For the vast majority of food businesses, registration will be held with Dunedin City Council. There is a fee associated with registering a food business, which is due to be paid either annually (for a Food Control Plan) or Bi-annually (for National Programmes).

Registration fees are due around the anniversary of your business starting up. If for example you registered in April 2020 and you operate a food control plan your registration will expire at the end of April 2021, so you would expect a registration renewal invoice at the start of April 2021. The registration renewal invoice is always sent at the start of the month your registration is due to expire.

Verification Fees

Once your business is registered you will receive a verification visit within 6 weeks of your business opening. Following your first verification, the frequency of future visits will depend upon your history in that business and the risk-based system the business is registered under (Food Control plan or National Programme). Your business will be graded at the same time as the verification. There is a fee associated with this verification that is due after the verification has been performed. This is separate to the registration fee.

The verification fee will occur after your risk-based system has been verified. The timeframes for verification's are as follows; every 2 years for a National Programme 3, every 3 years for a National Programme 2 and once for a National Programme 1. Annual verification's are required for Food Control Plans until a business has achieved two acceptable outcomes; after this time, verification's will occur every 18 months if your business continues to achieve acceptable outcomes. 

*Please note the certificate for your verification is the certificate with your Grade on it.

In Short

The registration fee is due at the same time either annually for Food Control Plans or bi-annually for National Programmes. This fee is associated with your Certificate of Registration.

The verification fee is due after you have been verified (which is depended on the type of risk-based system your business operates) and is associated with the Grade certificate.

The fee’s for the Registration and verification can be found on our website.