Farm operations in Georgia are governed by the food safety and animal feed code: breeding, driving, transporting, selling, and slaughtering animals, as well as producing plant products, all run under the special status of a business operator. If you run a farm, this page shows which registrations and veterinary or phytosanitary obligations apply to you and what fines are set for violations of the animal identification and registration rules.
Registration and approval as a business operator
The first step is registration: a business operator must register the relevant activity in the register of economic activities, and upon starting, ceasing, or changing any registered data connected with the activity — apply to the National Agency of Public Registry to amend the register. Carrying on activity as a business operator without registration is prohibited. Next comes the question of approval: approval is mandatory for a business operator whose activity is connected with the production or processing of food of animal origin, with animal feed, with non-food products of animal origin, or with the sphere of plant protection.
Approval is granted by the agency on the basis of inspection results, under rules approved by government decree, and operating a subject activity without approval is prohibited. At the same time, the law provides exceptions: approval is not required for an operator carrying out family production; primary production; production or processing using traditional methods; non-factory production in high mountain regions; direct supply of primary products to final consumers with small business status; direct supply of meat of poultry and lagomorphs slaughtered on the farm, or of game; storage of food not requiring temperature control; and certain retail formats. The agency may also, upon request, approve an activity that is not subject to mandatory approval — sometimes a voluntary approval is useful for market access.
Veterinary obligations on the farm
A business operator engaged in breeding, driving, transporting, selling, or slaughtering animals must: carry out measures against infectious diseases — preventive and liquidation measures, including vaccination, diagnostic examinations, and treatment; slaughter animals for the purpose of placing the resulting product on the market only under veterinary supervision; execute the agency's instructions on measures against infectious diseases and on identification and registration; cooperate with the authorized bodies; ensure the welfare of animals, including domestic companion animals; conduct driving, transportation, and sale of animals in the manner established by law; and ensure the lawful disposal of non-food products of animal origin.
Two duties are especially urgent: cases of infectious diseases and of mass poisoning of animals must be reported to the agency immediately, and an infected or diseased animal — or one suspected of being so — must not be moved. These requirements extend to family production subjects as well, as does the obligation to carry out anti-epizootic measures connected with animal products — a small farm is therefore not exempt from the veterinary regime.
Animal products and plant protection duties
An operator producing, processing, or distributing animal products must ensure that the products pose no risk to human or animal health or life; must execute the agency's instructions on anti-epizootic, preventive, and liquidation measures and cooperate with the authorized bodies; and must conduct the movement and sale of animal products under the established procedure. In plant protection, an operator producing or distributing plants and plant products must protect the plant, the product, and the production site from quarantine pests; must not allow harmful effects of pesticides and agrochemicals on human and animal health and the environment; must execute the agency's instructions on preventing mass spread of pests; must notify the agency immediately upon detection of, or suspicion of, quarantine pests; and must keep records of protective measures and plant protection means used. That last duty is eminently practical: a written record is the best evidence that the farm manages chemical means responsibly.
Animal identification, registration, and fines
Failure to comply with an instruction issued by the agency upon violation of the rules of animal identification and registration, or of registration of their holding or temporary holding, leads to a fine of one hundred GEL for a business operator with small business status and five hundred GEL for any other business operator. Identification and holding registration is thus not a formal detail but a direct financial risk for both categories of farms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are frequently asked questions about farm operations.
What must the farm do first?
Register as a business operator; for food of animal origin, feed or plant protection — also obtain recognition, which the agency grants following inspection.
When must the farm notify the agency immediately?
Of contagious diseases and mass poisoning, and of the detection or suspicion of quarantine organisms.
What fine applies to breach of identification-registration rules?
For small-business status — one hundred GEL; for other business operators — five hundred GEL.
May slaughter take place without supervision?
No — slaughter for obtaining animal products placed on the market is carried out under veterinary supervision.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The legal framework for farm operations consists of three layers: status (registration and, where needed, approval), daily duties (veterinary measures, welfare, notification, plant protection, record-keeping), and accountability (identification and registration, with sanctions). Managing these three layers with documentation is what turns a farm into a lawful operator and strengthens your position at inspection — the remaining details are refined by the management body's decrees, within this framework.
Farm compliance requires planning. Contact us on Legal.ge — we will determine the needed authorisations, deadlines and risks, and build a compliance plan for your farm.