Implementation of Sea Food Safety Official Control fees
From 1st October 2021, the SFPA are legally obliged to charge all approved Food Business Operators (both establishments and vessels) fees in respect of food safety official controls. The legal details about these fees are set out in the Official Controls Regulation (EU) 2017/625 which came into force on 1st January 2019. This EU regulation introduced a suite of charges for food safety official controls at approved establishment and vessels. Article 20 of SI No 22 of 2020 gives legal effect to this Regulation.
The SFPA have produced a "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) document with additional information, including how the fees are calculated, what businesses are being charged, and what product is being used to generate the invoices. Approved Food Business Operators are invoiced quarterly in arrears. Fees are calculated based on the amount of products a business processes each quarter.
Therefore, each Approved Food Business Operator is obliged to complete a Self Declaration form and submit it to the SFPA quarterly by the following dates:
- Friday 11th October for Q3 2024
- Friday 10th January for Q4 2025
- Friday 11th April for Q1 2025
Should your business not first place product on the market, please submit a zero self-declaration, to ensure you are compliant with the process. There is no need to pay fees until you receive an invoice from the SFPA.
If you need to change your company's contact details within the Official Control Fees system you can email us.