Temporary and mobile food premises
From 1 July 2011, a new statewide registration and notification scheme for temporary and mobile food premises applies under the Food Act 1984.
Temporary food premises are temporary sites or stalls where food is sold. This includes stalls and tents at school fetes, markets, festivals and other short term events.
Mobile food premises are vehicles such as vans, trailers or carts from which food is sold.
Under the new system and depending on your food handling activities, you only need to register with, or notify, the one council which is known as your Principal Council. This single registration will cover your registration or notification under the Food Act 1984 throughout Victoria.
Please find below some information aimed at helping people and community groups meet their obligations under the new system. Our Public Health Unit is happy to help people through the new process, so please feel free to contact the Unit on 9205 5166.
Step One - Working out which Council is your principal Council
Step Two - Working out whether it is a registration or notification that you need to undertake
Step Three - Contacting your Principal Council/Submitting a registration or notification form
Step Four - Submitting a Statement of Trade
Other information
Step One - Working out which Council is your Principal Council
Your Principal Council is:
- The Council in whose district you prepare or store food that is to be sold at the temporary or mobile food premises, or
- If the food is not usually prepared or stored beforehand, the Council in whose district you usually store the equipment for the temporary or mobile food premises or garage your mobile food vehicle, or
- If none of the above apply, the Council in whose district the usual business address for your organisation is located, or
- If none of the above are in Victoria, the council in whose district the temporary or mobile food premises will first operate.
Step Two - Working out whether it is a registration or notification that you need to undertake
Many temporary or mobile food premises are required to be registered with a Council.
However, registration is not needed when the food being provided is considered low-risk. Under the regulations, the provision of low risk food is classified as being a Class 4 activity. People who are operating Class 4 activities can complete a one-off notification form rather than undergoing an annual registration process.
Class 4 activities include:
- Selling prepackaged low risk foods - such as bottled jams, honey, nuts, confectionary or shelf staple prepackaged cakes (without fresh cream fillings) from a temporary food premises
- Offering wine tastings to members of the public, which may include serving cheese or low risk food that has been prepared and is ready to eat
- Selling whole fruit or vegetables or prepackaged cut fruit or vegetables
- Selling sausages that are cooked and served immediately on site (with or without onions cooked at the same time, and with bread and sauce).
Step Three - Contacting your Principal Council/Submitting a registration or notification form
If Yarra City Council is your Principal Council, please contact our Public Health Unit so we can help you through the process. The Unit can be contacted on 9205 5166.
Complete the appropriate registration or notification form below and lodge it with us. You can lodge the form with Council by dropping it in at the Collingwood or Richmond Town Hall, sending it the Public Health Unit c/o Yarra City Council, P.O. Box 168 Richmond 3121 or emailing it to info@yarracity.vic.gov.au
You can download and print the relevant registration or notification form:
Food businesses
Application to register mobile food premises (284.00kB)
Application to register temporary food premises (383.00kB)
Notification of mobile food premises - Class 4 only (201.00kB)
Notification of temporary food premises - Class 4 only (210.50kB)
Community groups
Application to register mobile food premises - community groups (280.00kB)
Application to register temporary food premises - community groups (369.00kB)
Application to register temporary food premises - community groups (with optional class 4 notification) (442.50kB)
Notification by a community group - temporary food premises (216.00kB)
Notification by a community group - mobile food premises (208.00kB)
Step Four - Submitting a Statement of Trade
Once your Principal Council has registered or accepted the notification of your temporary and mobile food premises, there is another step you must take before you begin trading in a particular area.
Five days before you intend to start trading, you must lodge a Statement of Trade form with them. If you intend to trade in the district covered by your Principal Council, you must lodge the Statement with them.
You can download the relevant Statement of Trade form below or you can go to the Department of Health website.
Statement of Trade for temporary food premises (116.50kB)
Statement of Trade for mobile food premises (113.00kB)
If you intend to trade within the district covered by Yarra City Council, please lodge the form with Council by dropping it in at the Collingwood or Richmond Town Hall, sending it the Public Health Unit c/o Yarra City Council, P.O. Box 168 Richmond 3121 or emailing it to info@yarracity.vic.gov.au
Other information
Combining Temporary and Mobile Food Premises with a Fixed Food Premises
If you already have a registered permanent food premises from which you prepare or store food that is to be sold from your temporary or mobile food premises, you can register with the same Council where your permanent business is registered.
You can ask your Council to combine these registrations or notifications so that in the future you will only have one registration process covering your permanent and temporary/mobile food premises.
Other Council Permits
The single statewide registration scheme is only relevant for registration or notification under the Food Act 1984.
To gain permission to operate on a specific public place or on Council land, you will most likely need to go through a separate application process with the relevant Council whose district you wish to trade in.To make an application to operate on a specific site, you will need to contact the Statutory Planning and/or Local Laws departments of the Councils in whose district you intent to operate. If you wish to operate on a specific site in Yarra, please contact Council's Community Amenity Unit on 9205 5063.
Costs
There is generally a charge to register your temporary or mobile food premises. There is no charge for lodging a notification or a Statement of Trade with any Council.
Department of Health website
More information on the requirements for temporary and mobile food premises is available on the Department of Health's website.
Further information
Compliance Branch
9205 5063
info@yarracity.vic.gov.au
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