The food health register (RGSEAA): step-by-step registration

The General Health Register of Food Businesses and Foods (RGSEAA) is a state, public and computerised register attached to the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN). Its purpose is to facilitate the official control of food businesses (article 1 of Real Decreto 191/2011, de 18 de febrero). Anyone can check a registration in the AESAN public search engine, and your professional clients and sales platforms will do so.

Businesses with a headquarters or establishment in Spain whose activity is the production, transformation or preparation, packaging, storage, distribution, transport or importation from third countries of food, food supplements, processing aids or materials in contact with food must register (article 2 of RD 191/2011). Businesses without their own establishment, such as distributors and importers working from a catalogue or online, are also registered. In that case, the registration refers to the company and its registered office.

The assigned number administratively identifies the business or establishment. Its first 2 digits correspond to the activity sector code. Only in establishments authorised in accordance with Reglamento (CE) 853/2004 (products of animal origin) does the number form part of the identification mark that must appear on the labelling.

The general rule is prior communication. Its submission to the health authority of the autonomous community where the establishment is located is the sole and sufficient condition to process the registration and, simultaneously, start the activity, without prejudice to subsequent controls (article 6.1 of RD 191/2011). The communication includes the name or company name, NIF (Spanish tax identification number), purpose of all activities and the establishment's location or, if there is none, the registered office.

The exception is establishments under article 4.2 of Reglamento (CE) 853/2004. These are those that manufacture, package or store temperature-controlled products of animal origin (codes 10 meat, 12 fish, 14 eggs, 15 milk and the same activities in the multipurpose code 40). These submit an authorisation request, receive a prior inspection visit and cannot start until they obtain authorisation, first conditional and then definitive. Pure distributors and importers (categories 3 and 5) and warehouses without temperature control, among other cases detailed in the official AESAN guide, fall outside this requirement and therefore proceed via prior communication.

Once the documentation is received, the Register communicates the identification number to the autonomous community within the following 15 working days (article 6.3 of RD 191/2011). Managora classifies your activity, prepares the correct form and submits it to your community's authority, so that a classification error does not cost you weeks.

Registration does not replace compliance with food legislation. The responsibility remains with the operator (article 1.4 of RD 191/2011). Before submitting anything, the premises must meet the hygiene conditions of annex II of Reglamento (CE) 852/2004 (washable surfaces, drinking water, toilets, cold chain) and have its municipal activity licence or responsible declaration, which is a separate and prior procedure.

You must have a self-control system based on HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points) principles, required by article 5 of Reglamento (CE) 852/2004, with its prerequisite plans: cleaning and disinfection, pest control, food handler training, suppliers and water. Several communities request a descriptive report of the activity or the self-control plan itself with the registration, and all will review it during the first inspection.

Furthermore, you need a traceability system that allows you to identify who each product comes from and who it has been supplied to (article 18 of Reglamento (CE) 178/2002). Specific software is not required, but ordered records of batches, suppliers and clients are.

If your activity proceeds via prior communication, you can start it on the same day of submission. The RGSEAA number arrives later. AESAN communicates it to the autonomous community within a maximum of 15 working days from receiving the documentation, although the total time until you have it and it appears in the search engine depends on each community's workload and is usually measured in weeks.

If your activity requires authorisation (products of animal origin), there will be a prior inspection visit. Once passed, the authority grants a conditional authorisation and audits the establishment again within a period of about 3 months, extendable for another 3, before the definitive authorisation, in accordance with the regime of Reglamento (UE) 2017/625. As a reference, the Community of Madrid sets a maximum resolution period of 9 months for these files.

Once registered, you will enter your community's official control programme. This involves periodic inspections according to the risk of your activity, where facilities, HACCP, traceability and labelling are reviewed. In the event of non-compliance, the authority can order anything from correction to the suspension of the activity or authorisation (article 138 of Reglamento (UE) 2017/625). Suspension is reflected by removing the establishment from the public search engine.

Importing is a registrable activity in itself. You must be registered before bringing in the first consignment. Importers register under category 5, whether they have their own warehouse or not, in the code of the product they import or in code 40 if they operate with products from various sectors. The AESAN guide clarifies that category 5 implicitly includes the subsequent distribution of the imported goods.

Even a retail business importing for its own use (for example, a restaurant bringing meat from outside the EU) must register under category 5, with the indication of retail trade in the observations. If the imported product is used solely as raw material for an establishment already registered as a manufacturer, the guide provides specific annotation rules.

For products of animal origin, furthermore, the merchandise must come from third-country establishments authorised by the European Union and enter through border control posts with their health controls. Managora studies your case, registers you with the correct code and category and guides you on the entry requirements for your product.

Any change in the mandatory registration data (holder or company name, address, activities, expansion of lines) must be communicated to the same autonomous authority. Modifications take effect from their submission, except in establishments subject to authorisation, where the authority must previously confirm that the conditions are maintained (articles 5 and 6 of RD 191/2011). Failing to communicate a change is one of the most common incidents during an inspection.

If you stop the activity temporarily (building work, season, renovations), there is a temporary suspension communication procedure agreed by AESAN with the communities. The establishment stops showing in the search engine for the duration, without losing the file. Definitive cessation is also communicated and entails the cancellation of the entry. The authority can also cancel inaccurate registrations ex officio, after a hearing with the interested party.

Managora takes care of the entire cycle: the initial registration, activity expansions, changes of holder and deregistration, with the documentation required by your autonomous community. You can see the updated service amount on the Food Health Register registration procedure page and start today. You tell us your activity and we prepare and submit the communication for you.