You’ve officially established your food business as a legal entity. congratulations! This is the first big step in building your business to last. The second half of the process, for a food business, is gaining a license to sell (so get even more legal!) from the health department, FDA, and other local and federal agencies. In this post, we will take you through the requirements your business must meet to legally sell your products to customers. One point of note is that the content in this post is specific to Washington, DC, and each state has its own laws around what a food business must do to legally sell. If you are not located in Washington, DC, we recommend reaching out to your local health department for more information. So with that, let’s explore how you can start selling your food product here in DC!
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the federal agency responsible for making sure consumers food and drugs are safe to consume. They do this by requiring all food businesses to follow specific food safety practices. Your registration with the FDA is the first step in the process because information provided by the FDA, once you are registered, will be used throughout the rest of the process. The registration application itself is in 12 parts. Much of the language is difficult to understand, but fortunately the FDA provides their step-by-step instructions on going through each portion of the application to make sure you understand what they are asking for, and fill out the form appropriately. We highly suggest you reference this guide as you complete your registration!
Just as it sounds, your Certificate of Good Standing signifies that you are in good standing with your incorporating state on things like documents filed, taxes, etc. The certificate is issued by the state in which you have established your food business. Each state has its own approach to requesting and obtaining a Certificate of Good Standing, so we advise a web search for “(Your State of Establishment) Certificate of Good Standing” to find the necessary steps. For our businesses who establish in Delaware, the government uses this page to facilitate requests for their Certificate of Good Standing.
Within the form, there are a few terms you’ll want to know before completing the application:
After you’ve been recognized as a business in DC, your next step is to register to sell your food product within the District. You do so by completing your FR-500, which is your sales and use new business registration. By registering, you are filing to be an approved business that sells directly to consumers. Think of farmer’s markets, food trucks, or any other events where you are selling directly to the person that is consuming your food.
Once your FR-500 registration has been processed, you need to file for your sales and use exemption (FR-164). This is for any situation where you are not selling directly to the end consumer like when you sell to a retailer or a distributor that then resells your product. In these cases, if you have your sales and use exemption, you do not need to pay sales tax. For more information and a guide on how to complete your FR-164, check out their link here.
Similar to the Certificate of Good Standing, your next step is acquiring your Clean Hands Certificate from the DC government to acknowledge that you are in good standing with the District. The certification means you do not owe more than $100 to DC, and that your food business registration paperwork has been done accurately and completely.
Currently, the application for your Clean Hands Certificate can be accessed on this DC Office of Tax and Revenue page. However, after March 31, 2020, the application will be streamlined through the MyTaxDC.com site.
Now that you’ve been recognized as a business in the District and they have certified that you are in good standing, it’s time to get into the more food-specific portions of licensing your food business. The first step is obtaining your Food Safety Manager’s License (FSML). Your FSML certifies that you are aware and will comply with food safety best practices and can manage teams to the same standard.
By using this link, you can register for a course and test online. Once you have completed the test and receive your ServSafe certificate saying you passed, you’ll then need to bring that certificate to the DC government to obtain your license.
Specifically, you will bring the following items to the Food Safety and Hygiene Inspection Services Division office at 899 North Capitol St NE, Washington, DC 20002 (Phone: 202- 442-5955; hours are 8 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.):
We’re almost there! To operate in a shared or commercial kitchen facility, every food business must have their food manufacturer application approved.
Part one of this process is filing the application, linked here. You will see that the information required is wide-ranging and in depth, including items like your ingredients lists and production process. Fortunately, the Department of Health published a resource page to help you complete this application. We highly recommend using it!
Of note, you will also need the Certificate of Occupancy from the shared kitchen facility you work in. This signifies that you are associated with the shared facility in which you can safely produce your product. As you’ll see in the application, you’ll also need to send the completed application to the management of your shared kitchen facility for their signature.
Part two of your food manufacturer application, once the paperwork has been approved, is scheduling your inspection with the Department of Health (DOH). We recommend coordinating this with the management of your shared kitchen facility so they can help facilitate and answer any facility specific questions.
During this inspection, you will sit down with the DOH inspector to talk through your production process and walk through the shared kitchen facility. The DOH inspector is checking to make sure your processes and the facility are up to local food safety code.
It’s finally here! The last step is obtaining your Basic Business License. As you will see, the BBL EZ-Form requires portions of each step above to complete, including the health inspection report you received from the DOH inspector during their visit.
Food business requires extra licensing steps to make sure food producers are selling products that are food safe. This also means that the process can be long and challenging. To make the process as straightforward as possible, follow the steps above in the order they are presented! Each step builds off the previous one(s). Going out of order will create more work for you.
We also recognize that the fees associated with each step are difficult to follow. To assist on this front, visit the DCRA’s Corporation Division Fees page for LLCs.
