East Suffolk Council
Live shellfish registration documents
Important: Our process for issuing, using, and returning registration documents has changed.
Registration documents are an important link in a chain of public health control measures, designed to ensure that shellfish placed on the market are safe to eat. It is therefore essential that the origin of the shellfish is known, and that this traceability is maintained from harvesting to final sale. This allows for recall of the shellfish if a food safety incident occurs.
There is a legal requirement for each batch or consignment of live bivalve molluscs or live shellfish being removed from a designated shellfish production area (or in the case of non-filter feeding gastropods such as whelks and periwinkles, from unclassified areas) to be accompanied by a registration document.
There are some limited exemptions to this requirement and our team can discuss these with you to determine if they apply.
How to request registration documents
Registration documents are available free of charge to operators of vessels and food business operators who are registered with East Suffolk Council, by completing the document request form.
If you are not gathering from a production or harvesting area within the East Suffolk area, you should contact the local authority who cover the production or harvesting area and they will issue you with documents.
Please note we need a minimum of 5 working days to process your request.
The way the registration document must be completed has changed
Our new registration document is in triplicate and consists of three copies:
- Top copy - This completed copy must travel with the batch of shellfish at all times. It must be given to and kept by the person receiving the shellfish for a minimum of 12 months.
- Second copy - This completed copy must be returned to the Food and Safety Team by emailing a scan or photograph to our Food and Safety Team. Alternatively, the paper copy can be returned to the council’s offices in Lowestoft or Melton.
- Third copy - This completed copy must be kept by the harvester for a minimum of 12 months.
The second copy, once returned to us, will be checked, and kept on our database. We will not issue a new batch of forms until we have received all the completed second copies from the batch you have already been issued.
How to use registration documents
A new document must be used for each batch of shellfish. Every registration document has a unique serial number and must not be re-used. Unless you are splitting a batch, it must not be photocopied.
Inspection of registration documents
Authorised officers have the authority to inspect registration documents held by harvesters, in order to ensure that they are being completed and used correctly. Officers make random visits to worked shellfish production areas in order to check documents. They may also ask to see previously completed documents to verify that they are being filled in and used correctly.
Regulation summary
EC Regulations 853/2004 (Article 7 and Annex III, Section VII, Chapters I, II and IX) set out criteria relating to the commercial production and sale of live bivalve molluscs from classified production areas. These regulations are law in the UK and are implemented by means of the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.
Further information
| Register online to sell live bivalve molluscs/live shellfish in the East Suffolk area |
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| Live bivalve molluscs/live shellfish registration document online request form |