HEALTH AUTHORISATION

All companies involved in production, preparation or packaging, including small sub-contractors associated with companies responsible for administrating food and drinks (article 231 of the Health Laws), food storage facilities, companies responsible for administrating food and drinks, including hotel catering companies, must be authorised in accordance with article 2 of Law 283/62.

In order to sell food and drink as an exclusive activity, commercial companies, as covered by Legislative Decree 114/98, must have their premises approved by Food and Nutrition Hygiene Operating Units and Services, where present, or by the local Public Hygiene and/or animal based Foodstuffs authority.
Company or community premises destined for the consumption of meals must be approved by the above mentioned services or operating units.

Applications for health authority approval or permission, submitted in accordance with the requirements of articles 25 and 26 of Presidential Decree DPR 327/80 must be complete with the following attachments:

• Plan of the premises in triplicate, dated and signed by a registered technician, at a scale of not more than 1/100, and inclusive of dimensions and a description of what each individual area will be used for.
• Height and available light to working area ratio; in the case of rooms that are divided into sectors dedicated to diverse activities, these must be specified; the plan must include the location of the equipment in use and the lay out.
• Technical report in triplicate, including:
  - the characteristics of the premises,
  - the type and function of the equipment;
  - food conservation methods;
  - type of water supply and the characteristics of the distribution network, including any water treatment plants (in the case of autonomous water supplies, the water quality must be approved as drinkable in accordance with the appropriate standards);
  - the solid and liquid waste disposal system;
  - the number of employees.

Health authorisation is obligatory for companies involved in production, preparation and packaging, a well as wholesale food storage facilities.

N.B.:
Health authorisation is granted by: