National rules

Can you sell backyard eggs in Norway?

Small quantities of loose eggs can be sold through registered primary production; packing brings additional rules. Hobby flocks also need registration. Current housing orders and property permission remain unconfirmed.

Read from 3 official sources19 passages quotedChecked October 8, 2026

At a glance

License

Registration

Small-flock line

Small quantities of loose eggs; numerical ceiling unconfirmed

Farmers markets

With conditions

Cartons

Not stated

In plain English

Egg production and collection at the producer, excluding packing, is primary production that does not need approval, but sales must be registered with Mattilsynet. Its guidance allows small quantities of unpackaged loose eggs from the farm, local markets and local shops. This is not complete business approval.

A sourced reading of the rules in Norway, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with Mattilsynet before you sell.

Do you need a license?

Registration requiredSmall quantities of loose eggs; numerical ceiling unconfirmed
  • Register the sale with Mattilsynet. The primary-production route excludes packing.
  • Under this registered primary-producer route, the regulator permits washing but prohibits selling prepacked eggs, such as closed cartons.
  • For direct small-quantity raw-product supply, a local retailer is one in the natural sales area around the producer. This differs from the separate retailer-to-retailer packing exception.
  • Packing entails size and quality sorting, hygiene and correct labelling. Egg-packing and egg-product businesses generally require approval.
  • A smaller retail packing centre may qualify for registration instead of approval, selling to consumers and supplying no more than 600 kg of animal-origin food per week to other local retailers. The weekly amount may be averaged over up to six months. This is a separate retailer exception, not the small-primary-producer threshold.
  • That retailer exception also requires supplies within the same county or no more than 100 km; a demonstrated wider natural sales area may qualify. Recipient retailers must supply the food directly to final consumers. The conditions apply together.
  • The captured domestically incorporated hygiene text retains a 21-day deadline from laying to final-consumer delivery within its scope. Small-quantity direct-supply exclusions and national provisions must be considered; this is not a universal deadline for every exempt sale.
The exact wording
“Produksjon og oppsamling av egg hos produsenten (ikkje pakking) blir rekna som primærproduksjon og treng ikkje godkjenning. Du må registrere salet i skjematenesta til Mattilsynet.”

Where you can sell

From home or the farm

With conditions

The registered primary-producer route allows small quantities of unpackaged loose eggs sold directly to consumers from the farm. Prepacked sales are outside that route.

Farmers markets

With conditions

The regulator includes local markets for small quantities of loose eggs under registered primary production. Packing is subject to separate rules.

Stores and restaurants

Not stated

The regulator includes local shops for small quantities of loose eggs. For direct raw-product supply, local means the producer’s natural sales area. A restaurant-specific route remains unconfirmed; do not substitute the separate 600 kg retailer-packing exception for this primary-production route.

Cartons, labels and handling

Cartons

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

New-carton and carton-reuse requirements remain unconfirmed. Closed cartons count as prepacked eggs and are outside the registered primary-producer route described here.

Refrigeration

Eggs must be stored and transported at no more than 12 °C from the primary producer through final-consumer delivery. Its exact statutory interaction with exempt small-supply producers remains unresolved, so no universal numerical limit is assigned here. Exceptions cover brief storage in the packing room during packing, and brief sale of particularly fresh eggs where the laying date is stated. No duration for “brief” is established here.

The label must show

  • For packed eggs, the regulator’s guide requires Norwegian or spelling resembling Norwegian, legibility and at least 1.2 mm x-height for mandatory particulars.
  • The package must identify the person responsible for the food information by name or business name and address.
  • State egg count or net contents on the package. Stating the egg count removes the mandatory net-content declaration.
  • Approved egg packers must use an identification mark with country, approval number and EFTA, or a packing-centre code. Registered exempt packing centres are a distinct category; this does not establish an individual-egg marking duty.

Grading

Not stated in the sources we read.

Packing brings size and quality sorting rules. A complete grading rule for every loose-egg sale is not established here.

Washing

The regulator permits washing under its registered primary-producer route. This does not waive microbiological duties or establish all washing requirements.

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

Keeping chickens in Norway? →Registration, bird-flu housing powers and welfare rules, on their own page.Registration required

Common questions

Do I need a license to sell eggs from my backyard chickens in Norway?
Small quantities of loose eggs can be sold through registered primary production; packing brings additional rules. Hobby flocks also need registration. Current housing orders and property permission remain unconfirmed. Small-flock line: small quantities of loose eggs; numerical ceiling unconfirmed. The conditions, and the law they come from, are on this page.
Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Norway?
Allowed with conditions. The regulator includes local markets for small quantities of loose eggs under registered primary production. Packing is subject to separate rules.
Can I reuse egg cartons in Norway?
The sources we read do not say; ask Mattilsynet before reusing cartons for eggs you sell.
What has to be on the carton label in Norway?
For packed eggs, the regulator’s guide requires Norwegian or spelling resembling Norwegian, legibility and at least 1.2 mm x-height for mandatory particulars. The package must identify the person responsible for the food information by name or business name and address. State egg count or net contents on the package. Stating the egg count removes the mandatory net-content declaration. Approved egg packers must use an identification mark with country, approval number and EFTA, or a packing-centre code. Registered exempt packing centres are a distinct category; this does not establish an individual-egg marking duty. The rule reads: "Egg skal være merket med navn eller firmanavn og adresse til den som er ansvarlig for matvarens næringsmiddelopplysninger."
Do eggs I sell in Norway have to be kept cold?
In short: Eggs must be stored and transported at no more than 12 °C from the primary producer through final-consumer delivery. Its exact statutory interaction with exempt small-supply producers remains unresolved, so no universal numerical limit is assigned here. Exceptions cover brief storage in the packing room during packing, and brief sale of particularly fresh eggs where the laying date is stated. No duration for “brief” is established here.
Sources
Read the 19 passages this page is built on
What we couldn't confirm
  • The numerical ceiling for small primary-producer supplies, a restaurant-specific route, new/reused-carton rules, complete packing requirements and all incidental-sale registration exceptions remain unresolved. Unknown does not mean exempt.
  • Registration fees and the complete set of keeper-registration exceptions are not established. No numerical minimum flock size is inferred.
  • Current housing-order status is unconfirmed. The dated lifting of a Rogaland zone does not prove that no order applies today. Check Mattilsynet’s current instructions before acting.
  • This record establishes selected national rules, not permission to keep birds at a particular property. The allocation of relevant regional law remains unknown; municipal, zoning, rooster and property restrictions were not researched.
  • No EU egg-marketing rule is applied automatically from EEA membership. The captured domestic incorporation and its scope control the hygiene finding; historical EU references in agency guidance are not treated as a new incorporation.
  • These are selected requirements from the guide for egg packers, not a complete label checklist for every loose-egg sale.
  • The numerical temperature duty for exempt suppliers is unresolved.

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