Poultry meat marketing terms inspection
Information for poultry farmers about inspections the Animal and Plant Health Agency carries out on their facilities, operating procedures and records.
Who gets inspected
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) inspects every poultry farm that uses certain marketing terms such as ‘free range’.
You must apply to APHA for registration to use specialist marketing terms. You’ll get an initial licensing inspection.
All poultry farms using specialist marketing terms are inspected at least once per flock turnaround. This means that farms keeping free-range chickens are inspected about 6 times per year.
What gets inspected
Your facilities, operating procedures and records of relevant premises are inspected.
You must keep up-to-date records, for a minimum of 6 months following dispatch, of the number of birds by type of farming. These records are checked and must show:
- the number of birds sold and their average weight at slaughter
- stocking density
- the name and addresses of the purchasers
- quantities and source of feed supply
Read more about poultry farm regulations.
Time and length
You can be inspected at any time of the year. You will never get advance notice of an inspection.
There are seasonal inspections for turkey and geese flocks (Christmas and Easter).
Inspections take 20 to 30 minutes on average. You must be present during the inspection.
What happens next
APHA sends the results to Defra. You’ll be sent a letter by Defra Investigations Services (DIS) detailing corrective action you must take if you’re a repeat offender.