National rules

Can you sell backyard eggs in Monaco?

A 2017 Monaco order sets hygiene and record rules for producers directly supplying small quantities of hens' eggs to final consumers; whether the food law's prior approval also applies to them was not established.

Read from 7 official sources45 passages quotedChecked November 4, 2026

At a glance

License

Not stated

Small-flock line

Small quantities of hens' eggs (no figure in the texts read)

Farmers markets

Not stated

Cartons

Not stated

In plain English

Ministerial Order No. 2017-101 sets health conditions for direct supply by the producer of small quantities of hens' eggs to the final consumer. The order applies without prejudice to the food safety law, which requires establishments where food is prepared, kept, stored and placed on the market to have the Minister of State's prior approval, applied for through the Director of Health Action. The texts read give no egg figure for small quantities, and whether that approval applies to such a producer was not established.

A sourced reading of the rules in Monaco, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with Direction de l'Action Sanitaire (Division de Sécurité Sanitaire et Alimentaire) ((+377) 98 98 19 00) before you sell.

Do you need a license?

Not stated in the sources we readSmall quantities of hens' eggs (no figure in the texts read)
  • Direct supply by the egg producer to the final consumer in small quantities is subject to the health provisions of Annex II of the 2017 order.
  • Annex II rules for the establishment include: access marked off to keep out outsiders and other animals, work clothing specific to the establishment, poultry carcasses in sealed containers until collected for incineration, the animals' drinking water from the public supply, and cleaning, disinfection and rest periods at least once a year.
  • Within Annex II, every poultry holder keeps an up-to-date register for at least three years and shows it to Direction de l'Action Sanitaire agents on request.
  • Establishments where food is prepared, processed, packed, kept, stored and placed on the market need the Minister of State's prior approval (Loi n° 1.330, art. 8). Arrêté ministériel n° 2009-243, art. 1 words the list differently: prepared, processed, packed, kept, held or stored, with no mention of placing on the market.
  • The 2008 hygiene ordinances n° 1.940 and n° 1.939 do not apply to direct supply by the producer of small quantities of primary products to the final consumer or local retail; the registration duty in ordinance n° 1.940, art. 6 sits in an ordinance with that exclusion.
  • Loi n° 1.330, art. 13: one or more operators are designated for each art. 8 establishment, and only natural persons approved by the Minister of State may be designated. Whether this reaches a small direct egg producer was not established.

Where you can sell

From home or the farm

Not stated

Annex II of the 2017 order sets health conditions for direct supply by the producer of small quantities of hens' eggs to the final consumer, and its register has an entry for on-site sale. The order does not lift the food safety law's approval rule, and whether that rule reaches such a seller was not established.

Farmers markets

Not stated

The 2017 order's register has entries for the local public markets where eggs are sold to the final consumer and the average quantity on each. That is a record duty, not an express permission. The 1909 municipal police ordinance sends food arriving in town for sale to the market unless it belongs to an authorized shop merchant, and requires the mayor's written permission for mobile stalls; how these fit a small egg producer, and whether the approval rule applies, was not established.

Stores and restaurants

Not stated

Article 3 of the 2017 order mentions direct supply to retailers serving the final consumer, but Annex II on eggs names only the final consumer. Restaurant supply was not established. The 1909 ordinance says no one may sell food in a shop without the mayor's permission (art. 24); how that fits a small egg producer was not established.

Also check with: Directeur de l'Action Sanitaire (approval applications, Arrêté ministériel n° 2009-243, art. 2)

Cartons, labels and handling

Cartons

No rule on new or reused cartons was found in the texts read. The 2017 order's Annex II requires clean containers kept for eggs for storage, and containers kept for eggs for transport.

Refrigeration

No fixed temperature was found. For producers in direct supply, Annex II of the 2017 order requires storage at the establishment and transport at a temperature, preferably constant, best suited to keeping the eggs' hygienic qualities, and keeps eggs clean, dry and out of direct sun until sale.

The label must show

  • For food business operators, every item in this list is subject to the exceptions in the chapter: name of the food (shown on or near unpacked food at the point of sale, art. 15)
  • List of ingredients (not required for listed foods, including single-ingredient products on the art. 17 e) condition)
  • Listed allergens used in making or preparing the food and still present
  • Quantity of certain ingredients where art. 24 requires it
  • Net quantity (art. 25 leaves cases where it is not required to a ministerial order, not read)
  • Date of minimum durability or use-by date
  • Special storage and use conditions where art. 27 requires them
  • Name or business name and address of the operator in art. 5
  • Country of origin or place of provenance where art. 28 requires it
  • Lot number (art. 32 dispenses food presented unpacked at the point of sale to the final consumer, even if wrapped at the buyer's request, and food prepacked for immediate sale)
  • Instructions for use where needed
  • Alcohol strength for drinks over 1.2% (not relevant to eggs)
  • Nutrition declaration under art. 36 (art. 13: not required for foods on a list set by ministerial order; that list was not read)

Grading

No egg grading rule was found in the texts read.

Washing

For producers in direct supply, Annex II of the 2017 order says eggs are neither washed nor cleaned before marketing, and dirty or cracked eggs are removed at once.

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Keeping chickens in Monaco? →Registration, bird-flu housing orders and welfare rules, on their own page.Not established

Common questions

Can I sell eggs from my backyard chickens in Monaco, and do I need a license?
A 2017 Monaco order sets hygiene and record rules for producers directly supplying small quantities of hens' eggs to final consumers; whether the food law's prior approval also applies to them was not established. Small-flock line: small quantities of hens' eggs (no figure in the texts read). The conditions, and the law they come from, are on this page.
Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Monaco?
Not stated in the sources we read. The 2017 order's register has entries for the local public markets where eggs are sold to the final consumer and the average quantity on each. That is a record duty, not an express permission. The 1909 municipal police ordinance sends food arriving in town for sale to the market unless it belongs to an authorized shop merchant, and requires the mayor's written permission for mobile stalls; how these fit a small egg producer, and whether the approval rule applies, was not established. Also check with Directeur de l'Action Sanitaire (approval applications, Arrêté ministériel n° 2009-243, art. 2).
Can I reuse egg cartons in Monaco?
The sources we read don't settle this. In short: No rule on new or reused cartons was found in the texts read. The 2017 order's Annex II requires clean containers kept for eggs for storage, and containers kept for eggs for transport. Ask Direction de l'Action Sanitaire (Division de Sécurité Sanitaire et Alimentaire) before reusing cartons for eggs you sell.
What has to be on the carton label in Monaco?
For food business operators, every item in this list is subject to the exceptions in the chapter: name of the food (shown on or near unpacked food at the point of sale, art. 15), List of ingredients (not required for listed foods, including single-ingredient products on the art. 17 e) condition), Listed allergens used in making or preparing the food and still present, Quantity of certain ingredients where art. 24 requires it, Net quantity (art. 25 leaves cases where it is not required to a ministerial order, not read), Date of minimum durability or use-by date, Special storage and use conditions where art. 27 requires them, Name or business name and address of the operator in art. 5, Country of origin or place of provenance where art. 28 requires it, Lot number (art. 32 dispenses food presented unpacked at the point of sale to the final consumer, even if wrapped at the buyer's request, and food prepacked for immediate sale), Instructions for use where needed, Alcohol strength for drinks over 1.2% (not relevant to eggs), Nutrition declaration under art. 36 (art. 13: not required for foods on a list set by ministerial order; that list was not read). The rule reads: "Conformément aux articles 8 à 36, et sous réserve des exceptions prévues par le présent chapitre, les mentions suivantes sont obligatoires :"
Do eggs I sell in Monaco have to be kept cold?
In short: No fixed temperature was found. For producers in direct supply, Annex II of the 2017 order requires storage at the establishment and transport at a temperature, preferably constant, best suited to keeping the eggs' hygienic qualities, and keeps eggs clean, dry and out of direct sun until sale.
Sources
Read the 45 passages this page is built on
What we couldn't confirm
  • Whether the food safety law's prior approval (Loi n° 1.330, art. 8) applies to a producer directly supplying small quantities of eggs was not established. No exclusion from art. 8 was found in the texts read (Loi n° 1.330; Arrêté ministériel n° 2009-243; Arrêté Ministériel n° 2017-101); the exclusion in the 2008 ordinances covers those ordinances only.
  • The texts read give no figure for small quantities of hens' eggs.
  • Arrêté Ministériel n° 2017-101 and Ordonnance Souveraine n° 8.808 were read as published in the Journal de Monaco (2017 and 2021); no amending text was found in the searches run, but later versions were not read. Arrêté ministériel n° 2022-159, which surfaced in those searches, was read: it amends the companion order n° 2017-102, including that order's temperature annex, and does not change n° 2017-101. Ordonnance n° 1.939 was read in its 2008 text. Law No. 1.128 and the 1909 ordinance were read at LégiMonaco addresses dated 18 November 1989 and 16 November 2019; the site's version lists were not read. The 2021 texts cite Law No. 1.128.
  • How the labelling exceptions apply to shell eggs from a small producer was not worked through; no carton or grading rule was found.
  • Egg-specific marketing standards under Loi n° 1.330, arts 6 and 7 were not found. The 21-day limit in Ordonnance n° 1.939 sits in an ordinance that excludes small direct supply.
  • No flock registration with an authority, no bird-flu housing order text and no official bird-flu status page were found; planning, building and co-ownership rules and municipal orders on keeping poultry were not read.
  • The Government's two MonEntreprise service pages on approval (both updated 16 July 2024) use the list in Arrêté ministériel n° 2009-243, art. 1 and do not mention small direct egg producers or Annex II. The operator page's summary speaks of certain food establishments without saying which. Arrêté ministériel n° 2009-244 on operator approval, which both pages list as applicable, does not mention them either. The application forms were not read.
  • Arrêté Ministériel n° 2017-101 and Ordonnance Souveraine n° 8.808 are cited by Journal de Monaco number and date. Their links lead to the home page of LégiMonaco, the Principality's legal database, where texts can be searched; no LégiMonaco copy of these two texts surfaced in the searches run, so none was read.

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