Registration and accreditation with the NVWA
European hygiene legislation dictates that food businesses, and their suppliers, must be registered or accredited. If you produce or process food(stuffs) or animal feed, you store these items or transport them to and sell them in the Netherlands, you must register all of your branches in NVWA's register. NVWA is the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority.
Accreditation
If any additional risks are involved in your company, in terms of food safety, product safety, animal health or animal welfare, you must apply for accreditation from NVWA (in Dutch). You need this if your company works with:
- animal feeds
- animal by-products, such as semen, ova and embryos
- live animals (oxen, sheep, goats, pigs)
- sprouting seeds
You will receive accreditation if your commercial space complies with the structural, technical and hygienic requirements. You must also have a HACCP plan and a quality and control system in place.
Veterinary laboratory
If you operate a veterinary laboratory in the Netherlands, you will require accreditation from NVWA as well as accreditation from the Dutch Accreditation Council (Raad voor Accreditatie, RvA). You participate in periodic monitoring by Wageningen Bioveterinary Research. Your laboratory also reports on the tests carried out and on the results of these tests. You report monthly to Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Dutch) and quarterly to NVWA.
Digital application with Message Box
With Message Box, you can register your branch(es) digitally with NVWA as well as apply for accreditation. Message Box is a secure email system which allows you, the entrepreneur, to exchange digital messages with Dutch government organisations.