Guidance

Egg marketing inspection

Information for egg producers about inspections the Animal and Plant Health Agency carries out on eggs, production facilities and records.

Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales

Who gets inspected

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) inspects all premises that apply for egg production, packaging or wholesale registration.

What gets inspected

APHA inspects:

  • eggs to confirm ‘class’ and size or weight category
  • production premises to confirm ‘free range’

APHA checks your records for:

  • Salmonella National Control Programme
  • density of egg production
  • flock mortality
  • welfare-related information

Find out more about the role of egg marketing inspectors.

Time and length

How often APHA inspects you depends on how compliant you are:

  • twice a year for non-compliant premises
  • once a year if you’re compliant
  • once every 2 years if you’re a small, low-risk packing premises

Inspections for packers take 3 to 4 hours. Inspections for producers take an hour and a half.

All inspections are unannounced.

What happens next

If you’re issued with a contravention notice you’ll get a follow up inspection. If you’re a repeat offender APHA will refer you to Defra Investigations Services (DIS).

If you break a compliance notice that you’re issued with, you’ll be referred to DIS.

Updates to this page

Published 12 January 2016

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