For food, know your tier: production and catering need a license; prepackaged-only sales need filing; fresh meat and vegetables need no license

Make and sell yourself—snack shop, braised goods, baking, homemade pickles—all need a license; small workshops and street vendors follow provincial rules. Sell only others' fully packaged food: no license; file with the county-level or higher market supervision department. Fresh meat, vegetables, and the like need no license. Operating without a license: even if goods value is under 10000, fine 50000–100000 yuan.

Cost

The license itself is free. Premises and equipment must meet standards; site inspection plus processing take weeks. Meat sellers must also keep quarantine certificates and meat quality inspection certificates for each batch.

Benefit

Food Safety Law: food businesses need a license first—produce food, sell food, or do catering, all need a license by law. «However, selling edible agricultural products and selling prepackaged food only do not require a license. Selling prepackaged food only shall be filed with the local county-level or above people's government food safety supervision department.» Edible agricultural products are unprocessed fresh meat, vegetables, and the like. Prepackaged food is made by others and sold in packaging. «Specific management rules for small food production workshops and food vendors are set by provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities»—those two tiers follow provincial rules. Operating food without a license: confiscate illegal gains, food, tools, equipment, and raw materials. If goods value (sale-price total for the batch) is under 10000 yuan, additionally fine 50000–100000 yuan; if 10000 yuan or more, fine 10–20 times goods value. Pig Slaughter Management Regulations: pigs only at state-designated slaughter plants with official centralized quarantine. «Except personal self-slaughter for own consumption in rural areas, no unit or individual may engage in pig slaughter without designation.» «Pig products sold or used by sellers, meat processors, catering operators, and centralized meal units must come from designated slaughter plants with quarantine and meat quality inspection passed.» So pork you sell or use must come from designated plants, with both quarantine and quality inspection passed. Private slaughter outside designated plants: ordered shut down; pigs, slaughter tools and equipment, and illegal gains confiscated; fines match the unlicensed-food tier above. Animal Epidemic Prevention Law: sold or shipped animal products must carry quarantine certificates and marks with the goods; missing them: order correction, then fine up to one times the value of comparable compliant goods. Judicial interpretation covers punitive damages—extra pay beyond a refund. Food made or sold by small workshops or vendors that fails food safety standards: buyers claiming tenfold damages should be upheld by courts (nationwide).

Notes

Thresholds for small workshops, small catering, and food vendors are set by provinces—no specific numbers here. On your provincial market supervision site search «食品小作坊小餐饮小摊贩管理条例» for the local version. Selling homemade food online does not skip a license where one is required. Entity and license setup: item 6. Whether other trades need a license: item 7. How much buyers can claim: section 5, item 31 (tenfold food damages).

Sources · 4

1. 全国人大常委会 (2025 年第三次修正). 食品安全法（第三十五、三十六、一百二十二条）. flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=7b5a76d0461745a08d3f…
2. 国务院 (2021). 生猪屠宰管理条例（国务院令第 742 号，第二、二十三、三十一条）. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2021-07/22/content_5…
3. 全国人大常委会 (2021 修订). 动物防疫法（第五十一、一百条）. flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff8080817703add20177…
4. 最高人民法院 (2024). 关于审理食品药品惩罚性赔偿纠纷案件适用法律若干问题的解释（法释〔2024〕9 号，第四条）. gongbao.court.gov.cn/Details/bf531a70471f10d3…