The legal framework of agricultural activity in Georgia
Agricultural activity in Georgia rests on a single codified regime: the production, processing and distribution of food and animal feed, animal health and welfare, and plant protection are all governed by the corresponding Code. Its stated purpose is the protection of human life and health, of consumer interests, of animal health and welfare and of plant health, together with the definition of unified principles of state regulation in these fields and the formation of an effective system of state control. That Code is the legal base on which farming, food and agri-service businesses operate every day, and ignoring its requirements routinely turns into real sanction risk.
In practical terms the core of Georgian agriculture law consists of three directions: registration and recognition as a business operator, the types of state control, and liability for violations. This page walks you through each of them on the basis of the exact norms of the Code, so that you have a precise picture for your own operation.
Scope of the Code and exemptions
The Code applies to the production, processing and distribution of food and animal feed, of animals, plants and animal and plant products carried out on the territory of Georgia; it also covers primary production, animal health and welfare, plant health, veterinary preparations, pesticides and agrochemicals, and — insofar as it follows from the Code's purpose — environmental protection. Controls related to the movement of goods across the customs border of Georgia (import, re-export, export and transit) are regulated by this Code together with the Customs Code and other relevant normative acts.
The legislature also provided softer regimes. Simplified requirements approved by a government decree apply to the business operator that holds small business status and directly supplies primary products to the final consumer or to a retail outlet directly supplying the final consumer; that uses traditional methods for production, processing, distribution or primary production; or that carries out production, processing or primary production in a highland region by a non-factory method. At the same time, state control does not extend to household production by a natural person, although within veterinary and phytosanitary control the provisions of the Code related to a household production subject still apply to it.