National rules

Can you sell backyard eggs in Croatia?

Sites producing up to 350 eggs a day may sell ungraded, code-marked eggs to consumers at the farm, a local market or door to door in their region. Register unless you make up to 50 a day and sell only on the farm.

Read from 3 official sources28 passages quotedChecked October 29, 2026

At a glance

License

Registration

Small-flock line

Registration exemption: up to 50 eggs a day, sold only on the farm or in your own tourist offer

Farmers markets

With conditions

Cartons

Not stated

In plain English

A primary egg-production facility produces up to 350 eggs a day. Its eggs may be sold directly to consumers, ungraded and marked with the producer code. Facilities producing eggs for public consumption register with the ministry's veterinary and food-safety directorate before starting; facilities producing up to 50 eggs a day that supply consumers only at the place of production or in their own tourist offer are exempt.

A sourced reading of the rules in Croatia, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i ribarstva, Uprava za veterinarstvo i sigurnost hrane (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, veterinary and food-safety directorate) before you sell.

Do you need a license?

Registration requiredRegistration exemption: up to 50 eggs a day, sold only on the farm or in your own tourist offer
  • Register an egg-production facility of animal-origin primary production intended for public consumption (registration rulebook art. 5) by applying to the veterinary and food-safety directorate before you start.art. 7(1)
  • Applicants must be entered in the farmers' register or the court or crafts register.art. 7(3)
  • Not registered: facilities producing up to 50 eggs a day that supply final consumers directly at the place of production and/or in their own tourist offer (art. 6 point 2); own tourist offer means catering services on your own farm.art. 2(1)(z)
  • The ministry assigns the holding identification number on registration.egg marketing rulebook art. 12(5)
  • Registered egg-production facilities must meet Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 and the storage and 21-day rules of art. 13(1) of the registration rulebook.
The exact wording
“2. objekti za proizvodnju jaja u kojima se proizvodi do 50 jaja dnevno kojima se izravno opskrbljuju krajnji potrošači na mjestu proizvodnje i/ili u vlastitoj turističkoj ponudi”

Where you can sell

From home or the farm

With conditions

Eggs from a facility producing up to 350 eggs a day may be sold directly to the final consumer at the place of production, ungraded and marked only with the producer code (egg marketing rulebook art. 8(1)-(3)); with up to 50 laying hens, selling at the place of production or in your own tourist offer, you may show your name and address at the point of sale instead of marking the code (art. 8(5)).

Farmers markets

With conditions

Allowed at a local public market (art. 8(1)); eggs from producers with up to 50 laying hens must carry the producer code there (art. 8(6)). At the point of sale display an explanation of the producer code and the best-before date (art. 8(4)).

Tourist businesses (shops aren't listed)

With conditions

Eggs from a registered egg-production facility may be sold only through the channels listed in registration rulebook art. 13(2): the place of production, markets or sales fairs, your own or a local tourist offer (sale to a tourist business in the same or a neighbouring county, under a rural-household services approval from the tourism ministry), door to door in the same or a neighbouring county, egg vending machines and egg collection centres. Shops are not in that list. The egg marketing rulebook's ungraded direct-sale route (art. 8(1)) covers only sales to final consumers; whether eggs supplied to a tourist business must be graded was not established.

Cartons, labels and handling

Cartons

The sources we read don't set a carton rule.

Refrigeration

Between 5°C and 18°C, held steady until sale, where the rule applies.

“2. da se jaja skladište na ujednačenoj temperaturi, ne nižoj od 5 °C i ne višoj od 18 °C, sve do trenutka prodaje krajnjem potrošaču”

The label must show

  • Each egg marked only with the producer code (egg marketing rulebook art. 8(3)); with up to 50 laying hens, selling at the place of production or in your own tourist offer, no code is needed if your name and address are displayed at the point of sale (art. 8(5)), but at a local market the code is required (art. 8(6)).
  • At the point of sale: an explanation of the producer code and the best-before date; the same information is given in door-to-door sales (art. 8(4)).

Grading

Ungraded only: eggs sold directly under the small-producer rules must not be graded.

Eggs sold directly to the final consumer under art. 8(1) of the egg marketing rulebook must not be graded into quality and weight classes (art. 8(2)).

Washing

A washing rule for directly sold eggs was not found in the rules read (egg marketing rulebook arts 1-16; registration rulebook arts 5-13).

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

What changed recently

  1. 2024-07-05 · A new egg marketing-standards rulebook was published (NN 80/2024, 5 July 2024); it replaced the 2021 rulebook (NN 90/21) on its entry into force, the eighth day after publication (arts 15-16). Source
Keeping chickens in Croatia? →Registration, bird-flu housing powers and welfare rules, on their own page.Registration: conditions

Common questions

Can I sell eggs from my backyard chickens in Croatia, and do I need a license?
Sites producing up to 350 eggs a day may sell ungraded, code-marked eggs to consumers at the farm, a local market or door to door in their region. Register unless you make up to 50 a day and sell only on the farm. Small-flock line: registration exemption: up to 50 eggs a day, sold only on the farm or in your own tourist offer. The conditions, and the law they come from, are on this page.
Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Croatia?
Allowed with conditions. Allowed at a local public market (art. 8(1)); eggs from producers with up to 50 laying hens must carry the producer code there (art. 8(6)). At the point of sale display an explanation of the producer code and the best-before date (art. 8(4)).
Can I reuse egg cartons in Croatia?
The sources we read do not say; ask Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i ribarstva, Uprava za veterinarstvo i sigurnost hrane (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, veterinary and food-safety directorate) before reusing cartons for eggs you sell.
What has to be on the carton label in Croatia?
Each egg marked only with the producer code (egg marketing rulebook art. 8(3)); with up to 50 laying hens, selling at the place of production or in your own tourist offer, no code is needed if your name and address are displayed at the point of sale (art. 8(5)), but at a local market the code is required (art. 8(6)). At the point of sale: an explanation of the producer code and the best-before date; the same information is given in door-to-door sales (art. 8(4)). The rule reads: "(4) Na mjestu prodaje jaja iz stavka 1. ovoga članka mora biti istaknuto objašnjenje šifre proizvođača i datum minimalne trajnosti te se isti podaci moraju dati potrošaču prilikom prodaje »od vrata do vrata«."
Do eggs I sell in Croatia have to be kept cold?
Between 5°C and 18°C, held steady until sale, where the rule applies. The rule reads: "2. da se jaja skladište na ujednačenoj temperaturi, ne nižoj od 5 °C i ne višoj od 18 °C, sve do trenutka prodaje krajnjem potrošaču"
Sources
Read the 28 passages this page is built on
What we couldn't confirm
  • No rule on reusing egg cartons was found in the rules read (egg marketing rulebook arts 1-16; registration rulebook arts 5-13).
  • The 5-18 °C storage rule is written for operators of egg-production facilities in the registration rulebook (art. 13(1)); whether it binds facilities exempt from registration (up to 50 eggs a day) was not established.
  • The registration rulebook (NN 123/2019, amended NN 3/2021) was read as published in the official gazette; the gazette's metadata, read on 29 October 2026, lists no later change or repeal.
  • Whether any bird-flu order applies now, and where, is not shown here; the 2023 order (NN 138/2023 art. 2(2)) provided for zone lists to be published on the Ministry of Agriculture website.

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