Every active operator in the food chain with an establishment in Belgium, has to be at least registered on the FASFC database. This obligation is laid down in Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules and is transposed in Belgian law by the Royal Decree of 16 January 2006.
This obligation concerns:
- The production, the preparation of raw materials for production, storage, packaging, transport or the trading of fertilisers, soil improvers, cultivation substrates, sewage sludge and related products.
- The production, handling, storage, packing, transport or trade of vegetal or animal propagation materials.
- The production, storage, packing, transport or trade of phytopharmaceutical products.
- The production, storage, packing, transport and trade of primary vegetal products with the exception of forestry.
- The keeping, permanent or temporary, the slaughter, the collection, the transport or trading of vertebrate or non-vertebrate animals, living on the land or in the water, whose products are destined for human consumption.
- The production, storage, packing, transport or trade of chemical substances or products and of vegetal or animal derived products, destined for human or animal consumption.
- The storage, transport, distribution, offers to buy or to sell foodstuffs in liquid or solid form to the end user.
- The contract workers in the primary sector.
- The production and import of charcoal and material that comes in direct contact with products destined for human consumption (packaging and ice for keeping foodstuffs cold), and the wholesale of material that comes in direct contact with products destined for human consumption (packaging and ice for keeping foodstuffs cold).
- The keeping, permanent or temporary, or the handling of aquatic animals for ornamental purposes, as stipulated in the Royal Decree of 9 November 2009 concerning veterinary requirements for aquaculture animals and products derived from them and concerning the prevention of and fight against specific diseases present in aquatic animals.
- The oleochemical production of fat derivatives from melted animal fat of category 1, 2, or 3 material, in accordance with article 23 of EC Regulation n° 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing health requirements with respect to animal by-products not for human consumption and their derived products repealing EC Regulation n° 1774/2002 (Regulation animal by-products).
- The storing of melted animal fat of category 1, 2, or 3 material intended for transformation into oleochemical fat derivatives, in accordance with article 23 of EC n° 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing health requirements with respect to animal by-products not for human consumption and their derived products repealing EC Regulation n° 1774/2002 (Regulation animal by-products)
- The storing of derived products with a view to continuing the journey to the exclusive final destination for animal feed, in accordance with article 23 of EC Regulation n° 1069/2009 of the European parliament and the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing health requirements with respect to animal by-products not for human consumption and their derived products repealing EC Regulation n° 1774/2002 (Regulation animal by-products).
- The transformation on the product line of food stuffs of particular category 3 materials as indicated in article 10, a), h), k), ii), of EC Regulation n° 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing health requirements with respect to animal by-products not for human consumption and their derived products repealing EC Regulation n° 1774/2003 (Regulation animal by-products), in accordance with Community legislation are fit for human consumption but are not for commercial reasons destined for human consumption, in accordance with article 23 of EC Regulation 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing health requirements with respect to animal by-products and their derived products repealing EC Regulation n° 1774/2003 (Regulation animal by-products).
- Trade traffic of pets, as stipulated by the Royal Decree 13 December 2014 with regard to veterinary requirements for the transport of dogs, cats and ferrets.
- Trade traffic of specific special types of animal, as stipulated in the Royal Decree of 18 December 2015 establishing veterinary requirements for the trade traffic and import of specific live animals establishing requirements for the recognition of bodies, institutes and centres.
Furthermore, some activities require an additional authorisation or approval.
Before an approval is granted, each establishment is officially inspected to check if the infrastructure and the equipment is in line with the legal requirements. After this initial inspection, regular inspections of the site are performed in order to assure that all legal requirements are met. The frequency of these inspections depends on the type of establishment.
The same system of regular inspections, at a frequency depending on the type of establishment, is applied for all authorised establishments.
The list of all activities for which an authorisation or approval is required, is included in the Royal Decree of 16 January 2006.