If an economic operator wishes to take up an economic activity in a field requiring an activity licence, an application for an authorisation must be submitted to the register of farm animals before starting the economic activity and an authorisation (request for approval) must be obtained from the Agriculture and Food Board. In such a case, a notice of economic activities need not be submitted.
All of the above-mentioned notifications and applications can be submitted in e-PRIA. The Agriculture and Food Board processes the application and issues the licence.
Establishments subject to an authorisation are entered in the register of farm animals if the area of activity thereof is:
- transport operations of terrestrial animals,
- transport operations of aquatic animals,
- keeping of aquatic animals for the following purposes:
- aquaculture establishments with a view to move aquatic animals therefrom either alive or as products of aquaculture animal origin (other than aquaculture establishments for which specific requirements are laid down in Articles 12 to 19 of Regulation (EU) No 691/2020;
- groups of aquaculture establishments where aquaculture animals are kept with a view to being moved there from either alive or as products of aquaculture animal origin;
- confined aquaculture establishments;
- aquaculture establishments keeping aquaculture animals for ornamental purposes in open facilities;
- aquaculture establishments which are closed facilities keeping aquaculture animals for ornamental purposes, which pose a significant risk of disease due to their movement patterns;
- aquaculture establishments keeping aquaculture animals of listed species which are vectors in isolation, until such time as they are no longer regarded as being vectors;
- purification centres, dispatch centres and relaying areas other than those subject to registration;
- vessels and other mobile premises where aquaculture animals are kept temporarily to be treated or to undergo another husbandry-related procedure;
- quarantine establishments for aquaculture animals.
- assembly operations of ungulates and poultry for moving the same to or from another Member State (except where equidae are gathered for the purposes of competitions, races, shows, training, collective leisure or work activities or in the context of breeding activities),
- assembly centres/animal shelters for the movement of dogs, cats and ferrets to another Member State,
- for movement of germinal products (bovine, porcine, ovine, caprine and equine animals, cats, dogs, camelid and cervid animals) and day-old chicks/hatching eggs to another Member State,
- keeping of poultry for hatching eggs to be moved to another Member State (except hatcheries of captive birds),
- keeping of poultry to be moved to another Member State (for purposes other than slaughter),
- production, handling, processing, disposal, storage and use of animal by-products and derived products (under the conditions laid down in Regulation 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council),
- keeping of animals at confined establishments,
- breeding, use and supply of experimental animals,
- conservation of farmed animals of endangered breeds,
- breeding of purebred breeding animals (bovine, ovine, porcine and equine animals, and quails)/hybrid breeding pigs,
- control posts for temporary unloading of animals in transit,
- environmentally isolated production establishments for bumblebees for their transfer to another Member State,
- storage of germinal products, animal by-products, derived products, hay or straw in transit,
- quarantine establishments for moving terrestrial animals (other than primates) within the same Member State or to another Member State,
- disease control aquatic food establishments.
Requirements for the applicant
In addition to the information listed in § 19 of the General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act, other requirements may also be laid down in the application for an authorisation:
- Aquaculture establishments observe compliance with biosecurity measures and record-keeping requirements and the existence of an environmental permit for special use of water.
- Establishments engaged in breeding, using or supplying experimental animals must submit, in addition to the application for an authorisation, additional documents the list of which can be found in § 402 of the Animal Protection Act.
- In accordance with § 203 of the Animal Protection Act, an operator is granted a transporter authorisation where the operator complies with the requirements laid down in Article 10 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 (transport authorisation type 1). In accordance with § 204 of the Animal Protection Act, an operator is granted a long journeys transporter authorisation where the operator complies with the requirements laid down in Article 11 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 (transport authorisation type 2).
- Establishments handling animal by-products or derived products must comply with the requirements arising from Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulation (EU) No 142/2011.
- Requirements for breed societies, breeding operations and private undertakings operating in closed production systems and breeding programmes are established in Articles 4 and 8 of, and Annex I to, Regulation (EU) 2016/1012 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
A supervisory official may request additional information and documents in addition to the above.
Cross-border operation
If a foreign operator wants to commence activities in the territory of Estonia, it must apply to a competent supervisory authority of Estonia (AFB) for an authorisation for its place of business. There is no need to submit cross-border documents. An authorisation is granted to an establishment operating in a particular place of business.
If an operator wants to commence economic activities subject to an authorisation in an establishment located outside of Estonia, the operator must apply to a competent supervisory authority of the country in which the establishment is located for an authorisation or approval pursuant to the prescribed procedure.
Filling in and submitting application
You can submit an application for an authorisation in the ARIB (Agricultural Registers and Information Board) self-service environment (you must log in to use the service).
More information can be found on the website of the ARIB.
Payment of state fee
When applying for a licence to engage in agricultural activities, a state fee is payable only when applying for a licence related to experimental animals. A state fee must be paid for processing an application for an activity licence for breeding experimental animals, supplying experimental animals, and using experimental animals. You can read more on the website of the Agriculture and Food Board.
Application processing
The Agriculture and Food Board (AFB) resolves an application for an authorisation by granting or refusing to grant the authorisation within 90 days of the day of submission of the application.
If the information of the operator and the establishment as well as the application for an authorisation along with the requested documents and information have been entered in the ARIB register of farm animals, the AFB can start processing the application for an authorisation of the establishment.
If the information provided in the application or the documents and information to be appended to the application are incomplete, the AFB will immediately inform the person submitting the application thereof. In such an event, the processing time starts to run after all the requested information has been provided.
An application for an authorisation in the field of agricultural animal breeding is resolved by the AFB by granting or refusing to grant the authorisation within 60 days of submission of the application.
Amending the terms of the activity licence
You can submit an application for amending an authorisation in the ARIB self-service environment (you must log in to use the service).
In the event of a change in legal details (name and registry code of the operator) and/or the registered office of the establishment, a new authorisation must be applied for.
Suspension of activity licence and termination of economic activity
You can submit an application for renouncing economic activities subject to an authorisation in the ARIB self-service environment (you must log in to use the service).
The validity of an authorisation is suspended by the AFB if, due to the prevailing circumstances, it is temporarily impossible to ensure adequate conditions in the establishment.
Revocation of activity licence
An authorisation is revoked in accordance with § 34 of the General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act and in accordance with § 28 of the Veterinary Act.
A transport authorisation may be revoked if it is established that the operator has not observed the requirements laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 or if the means of transport used to transport animals is not in compliance with the requirements.
Supervision
Supervision in regard to submitting an activity licence is carried out by the Agriculture and Food Board.
Legal basis
Presenting an activity licence to the register of farm animals is governed by:
- Veterinary Act
- Animal Protection Act
- Farm Animals Breeding Act
- General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act
- Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Animal Health Law)
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2035
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/691
- Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Animal by-products Regulation)
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/686
Contacts
The Registers of ARIB: tel. +372 731 2311
E-mail of the register of animals and client register: [email protected]
Agriculture and Food Board: tel: +372 605 1710, e-mail: [email protected]