National rules

Can you sell backyard eggs in Cabo Verde?

Cabo Verde: family-scale livestock activities, including up to 1000 poultry for home use or local sale, must be registered before they start. A 2020 regulation says eggs for consumption must be graded in egg centers.

Read from 3 official sources19 passages quotedChecked November 2, 2026

At a glance

License

Depends how you sell

Small-flock line

Registration for family poultry activities up to 1000 birds; license above

Farmers markets

Not stated

Cartons

Not stated

In plain English

Cabo Verde's 2024 livestock decree-law sorts livestock activities into two classes. Class B covers family or traditional activities, defined as small-scale family production for own consumption and/or the local market; its annex table lists poultry up to 1000 birds under Class B, and a Class B activity may start only after it is registered with the regional livestock delegation, with a fee (Arts 4(l), 5(1)(b), 10, 27). Larger, Class A activities need a license title before they start (Art. 21). The decree applies to livestock activities in groups 014 and 015 of the national classification of economic activities (Art. 2); whether every household flock falls within those groups is not stated. No separate rule for selling eggs from a small flock was found.

A sourced reading of the rules in Cabo Verde, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the regional livestock delegation of the agriculture ministry (Ministério da Agricultura e Ambiente, MAA) before you sell.

Do you need a license?

Depends on how and how much you sellRegistration for family poultry activities up to 1000 birds; license above
  • Register the activity with the regional livestock delegation before starting, using the form and paying the fee (Decree-Law 30/2024, Arts 10, 27); the fee amount was not found.
  • Class B poultry facilities: coops and runs with drinkers and feeders (Annex I, Table 3).
  • Eggs for consumption must be inspected and graded in egg centers ('entrepostos'), though inspection may be done at a production establishment with suitable facilities, and packed in standard boxes identifying the brand or farm of origin.Decree-Regulation 12/2020, Arts 49-50
  • Eggs must reach the consumer within twenty-one days of production.Decree-Regulation 12/2020, Art. 47(4)
The exact wording
“1- A atividade pecuária da classe B só pode ter início após o cumprimento pelo titular da obrigação de registo prevista neste capítulo.”

Where you can sell

From home or the farm

Not stated

No farm-gate rule for eggs was found. The 2009 food hygiene decree-law does not apply to direct supply by the producer of small quantities of primary products to the final consumer (Art. 2(2)(c)); its definition of primary production gives harvesting, slaughter, milking and fishing as examples and does not name eggs (Art. 4(l)). The 2020 regulation's egg rules exclude only primary production for own consumption (Art. 2(5)).

Farmers markets

Not stated

No rule on selling eggs at markets was found in the texts read.

Stores and restaurants

Not stated

No rule on supplying shops or restaurants with eggs was found. The 2009 hygiene decree-law's exclusion also covers small direct supplies to local retailers who sell to the final consumer (Art. 2(2)(c)); whether eggs count as primary products there was not established.

Also check with: Food hygiene authorities named in 2009: ARFA, DGASP, DGP, DGS, IGAE and the municipalities (Decree-Law 25/2009, Art. 8)

Cartons, labels and handling

Cartons

Not established whether cartons must be new. The 2020 regulation requires eggs to be packed in standard boxes identifying the brand or farm of origin, in strong, odorless, dry cardboard packaging authorized by the health authorities (Art. 49).

Refrigeration

No maximum storage temperature for eggs was found. The 2020 regulation says eggs must be stored and transported at a suitable, preferably constant, temperature (Art. 47(3)) and must not be kept where the temperature is held artificially below 5 °C, except for up to 24 hours in transport or 72 hours at retail (Art. 51(2)).

The label must show

  • Brand or farm of origin on the egg box (Decree-Regulation 12/2020, Art. 49(1)); whether the 2009 general food-label list also applies to eggs was not established

Grading

Eggs must be graded.

The 2020 regulation says eggs for consumption must be inspected and graded in egg centers ('entrepostos') (Art. 50(2)), although inspection may be done at the production establishment if it has suitable facilities (Art. 50(1)). Eggs are graded by weight: XL 73 g or more, L 63 to under 73 g, M 53 to under 63 g, S under 53 g (Art. 52). The regulation excludes only primary production for own consumption (Art. 2(5)).

Washing

No washing rule for eggs was found. At production and retail, eggs must be kept clean, dry and free of foreign odors (Decree-Regulation 12/2020, Art. 47(2)).

Pricing your dozen? The egg price calculator works it out from your feed bill.

Keeping chickens in Cabo Verde? →Registration, bird-flu housing orders and welfare rules, on their own page.Registration: conditions

Common questions

Can I sell eggs from my backyard chickens in Cabo Verde, and do I need a license?
Cabo Verde: family-scale livestock activities, including up to 1000 poultry for home use or local sale, must be registered before they start. A 2020 regulation says eggs for consumption must be graded in egg centers. Small-flock line: registration for family poultry activities up to 1000 birds; license above. The conditions, and the law they come from, are on this page.
Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Cabo Verde?
Not stated in the sources we read. No rule on selling eggs at markets was found in the texts read. Also check with Food hygiene authorities named in 2009: ARFA, DGASP, DGP, DGS, IGAE and the municipalities (Decree-Law 25/2009, Art. 8).
Can I reuse egg cartons in Cabo Verde?
The sources we read don't settle this. In short: Not established whether cartons must be new. The 2020 regulation requires eggs to be packed in standard boxes identifying the brand or farm of origin, in strong, odorless, dry cardboard packaging authorized by the health authorities (Art. 49). Ask the regional livestock delegation of the agriculture ministry (Ministério da Agricultura e Ambiente, MAA) before reusing cartons for eggs you sell.
What has to be on the carton label in Cabo Verde?
Brand or farm of origin on the egg box (Decree-Regulation 12/2020, Art. 49(1)); whether the 2009 general food-label list also applies to eggs was not established. The rule reads: "1- Os ovos devem ser acondicionados em caixas padrões e conter a identificação da marca ou do aviário de proveniência."
Do eggs I sell in Cabo Verde have to be kept cold?
In short: No maximum storage temperature for eggs was found. The 2020 regulation says eggs must be stored and transported at a suitable, preferably constant, temperature (Art. 47(3)) and must not be kept where the temperature is held artificially below 5 °C, except for up to 24 hours in transport or 72 hours at retail (Art. 51(2)).
Sources
Read the 19 passages this page is built on
What we couldn't confirm
  • Decree-Law 30/2024, Decree-Regulation 12/2020 and the 2009 decree-laws were read as published in the Boletim Oficial; later amendments were not checked.
  • Decree-Law 30/2024 applies to livestock activities in groups 014 and 015 of the national classification of economic activities; whether every household flock falls within them is not stated.
  • The annex table lists poultry up to 10.000 birds as Class A semi-industrial and up to 1000 birds as Class B; the decree separates the classes by family or traditional character, and how a small flock is classed in practice was not established.
  • The registration fee amount and the ministerial orders under Decree-Law 30/2024 (Arts 3 and 8) were not found.
  • Whether eggs count as primary products for the 2009 hygiene decree-law's small-supply exclusion was not established.
  • The Boletim Oficial site's undated list of issuing bodies includes both a 'Ministério da Agricultura e Ambiente' and a 'Ministério da Agricultura, Desenvolvimento Rural e Pescas', so the agriculture ministry's current name was not established; the agency link is the Ministério de Agricultura e Ambiente website as found.
  • Municipal rules were not researched.
  • The 2018 decree-law on the national animal identification and registration system (Decreto-lei n.º 45/2018) was not read.
  • The 2009 labeling decree-law also lists compulsory particulars for food supplied to the final consumer, with exceptions for food sold loose (Arts 4 and 8); how that list applies to eggs was not established.

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