National rules

Can you sell backyard eggs in Trinidad and Tobago?

In texts updated to 31 Dec 2016, Trinidad and Tobago bars selling unfit food or food stored in unsanitary conditions; in a City or Borough, eggs may be sold only in a public market or under a Council licence.

Read from 8 official sources53 passages quotedChecked October 29, 2026

At a glance

Licence

Depends how you sell (2016 texts)

Small-flock line

Seller registration at 25 kg or more, unless a Farmer's Registration Card is held; Council licence to sell outside a public market in a City or Borough

Farmers markets

Not stated

Cartons

Not stated

In plain English

No small-seller provision for eggs was found in the national texts read on 2026-10-29 (Food and Drugs Act and Regulations, Municipal Corporations Act, Praedial Larceny Prevention Act, all in the unofficial versions updated to 31 December 2016). In those texts, general rules that reach egg sellers include the following. In a City or Borough, a marketable commodity, which includes livestock products such as eggs, may be sold only in a public market or under a licence from the Council (Municipal Corporations Act s.199(2)). Anyone who sells, trades in, deals in, supplies or otherwise disposes of agricultural produce or livestock of the weight of twenty-five kilograms or more must be registered, unless registered as a farmer with a valid Farmer's Registration Card (Praedial Larceny Prevention Act s.3); livestock includes any poultry and any part or product of it, and poultry includes eggs (Praedial Larceny Prevention Act s.2; Summary Offences Act s.2). The Food and Drugs Act bars selling food that is unfit for human consumption or was stored under unsanitary conditions.

A sourced reading of the rules in Trinidad and Tobago, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the Municipal Corporations (market licences in Cities and Boroughs); the Minister to whom responsibility for agriculture is assigned (seller registration under the Praedial Larceny Prevention Act) before you sell.

Do you need a licence?

Depends on how and how much you sell (2016 texts)Seller registration at 25 kg or more, unless a Farmer's Registration Card is held; Council licence to sell outside a public market in a City or Borough
  • In the text updated to 31 December 2016, sellers of agricultural produce or livestock of the weight of twenty-five kilograms or more must apply to the Minister to be registered, unless they are registered farmers with a valid Farmer's Registration Card.Praedial Larceny Prevention Act s.3(1)-(3)
  • In the text updated to 31 December 2016, eggs may be sold in a City or Borough only in a public market or under a licence granted by the Council.Municipal Corporations Act s.199(2)
  • In the text updated to 31 December 2016: do not sell food that is unfit for human consumption, or that was prepared, packaged or stored under unsanitary conditions.Food and Drugs Act ss.5, 8
  • In the text updated to 31 December 2016, a producer (anyone who rears, cultivates, grows or stores agricultural produce or livestock and then sells, supplies or otherwise disposes of it), wholesaler or retailer must, at the time of the sale or delivery of agricultural produce or livestock of the weight of twenty-five kilogrammes or more, give a memorandum of sale or delivery to the purchaser or other person obtaining possession or custody of it.Praedial Larceny Prevention Act s.3A(1)-(2)
The exact wording
“weight of twenty-five kilograms or more shall be registered in the manner provided in this section.”

Where you can sell

From home or the farm

Not stated

No farm-gate rule specific to eggs was found in the national texts read (texts updated to 31 December 2016). In a City or Borough, eggs may be sold only in a public market or under a Council licence (Municipal Corporations Act s.199(2)). In the other Municipalities, section 200 bars selling fresh or frozen meat, fish, poultry or agricultural products (eggs are not named) within one and a half kilometres of any public market or licensed shop, but the markets Part reaches those Municipalities only where a Presidential Order extends it (s.187(2)); ask your Municipal Corporation. Whether these municipal rules reach Tobago was not established.

Farmers markets

Not stated

In a City or Borough, no one may hold a market for the sale of fresh meat, fish or other marketable commodities in any place that is not a public market (Municipal Corporations Act s.197(1), text updated to 31 December 2016). No rule for egg sellers at markets was found in the national texts read; ask the Municipal Corporation about selling at a public market.

Stores and restaurants

Not stated

Whether shops or restaurants may buy eggs from small sellers was not researched, and no rule on it was found in the national texts read.

Also check with: Municipal Corporation Councils (public markets and licences in Cities and Boroughs, Municipal Corporations Act s.199); the Minister to whom responsibility for agriculture is assigned (seller registration, Praedial Larceny Prevention Act ss.2, 3)

Cartons, labels and handling

Cartons

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

Refrigeration

Not stated in the sources we read.

The label must show

  • Applies only to food sold in a closed package: the label rules do not apply to food sold unpackaged or in an open or uncovered package, or weighed, measured or counted into the package in the presence of the buyer (Food and Drugs Regulations reg. 23(1)(a)-(b), text updated to 31 December 2016; legal notices made after 2016 were not read)
  • Brand or trade name of the food
  • Common name of the food
  • Net contents, except for eggs packed in cartons that can be easily opened to check the contents (reg. 17(d))
  • Name and address of the manufacturer or the person preparing the food
  • Expiry date or other date mark
  • Batch or lot number
  • Storage instructions and instructions for safe handling, where applicable (reg. 16(1)(b)(vii), (ix))

Grading

Not stated in the sources we read.

Washing

Not stated in the sources we read.

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

Keeping chickens in Trinidad and Tobago? →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 Trinidad and Tobago, and do I need a licence?
In texts updated to 31 Dec 2016, Trinidad and Tobago bars selling unfit food or food stored in unsanitary conditions; in a City or Borough, eggs may be sold only in a public market or under a Council licence. Small-flock line: seller registration at 25 kg or more, unless a Farmer's Registration Card is held; Council licence to sell outside a public market in a City or Borough. The conditions, and the law they come from, are on this page.
Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Trinidad and Tobago?
Not stated in the sources we read. In a City or Borough, no one may hold a market for the sale of fresh meat, fish or other marketable commodities in any place that is not a public market (Municipal Corporations Act s.197(1), text updated to 31 December 2016). No rule for egg sellers at markets was found in the national texts read; ask the Municipal Corporation about selling at a public market. Also note: Municipal Corporation Councils (public markets and licences in Cities and Boroughs, Municipal Corporations Act s.199); the Minister to whom responsibility for agriculture is assigned (seller registration, Praedial Larceny Prevention Act ss.2, 3).
Can I reuse egg cartons in Trinidad and Tobago?
The sources we read do not say; ask the Municipal Corporations (market licences in Cities and Boroughs); the Minister to whom responsibility for agriculture is assigned (seller registration under the Praedial Larceny Prevention Act) before reusing cartons for eggs you sell.
What has to be on the carton label in Trinidad and Tobago?
Applies only to food sold in a closed package: the label rules do not apply to food sold unpackaged or in an open or uncovered package, or weighed, measured or counted into the package in the presence of the buyer (Food and Drugs Regulations reg. 23(1)(a)-(b), text updated to 31 December 2016; legal notices made after 2016 were not read), Brand or trade name of the food, Common name of the food, Net contents, except for eggs packed in cartons that can be easily opened to check the contents (reg. 17(d)), Name and address of the manufacturer or the person preparing the food, Expiry date or other date mark, Batch or lot number, Storage instructions and instructions for safe handling, where applicable (reg. 16(1)(b)(vii), (ix)). The rule reads: "23. (1) Regulation 16 does not apply to a food which is— (a) sold unpackaged, or in an open or uncovered package; (b) weighed or measured in or counted into the package in the presence of the purchaser, or weighed, measured or counted in the presence of the purchaser before being packaged;"
Sources
Read the 53 passages this page is built on
What we couldn't confirm
  • The national texts were read in the Law Revision Commission's unofficial versions updated to 31 December 2016. Later amending Acts were read only in part: the Municipal Corporations Act was amended by Act No. 11 of 2022 (which, among other things, repeals section 187(2) so the markets Part would reach every Municipality), but that Act comes into operation on a date fixed by Proclamation and whether it is in force was not established; other later amendments listed for these Acts were not all read.
  • The Public Health Ordinance (Ch. 12 No. 4) was not read; the Ministry of Health's website terms allow viewing and downloading only for personal, non-commercial use, so its pages were not read.
  • No egg-specific grading, carton-reuse or storage-temperature rule was found in the Food and Drugs Regulations read (text updated to 31 December 2016). National standards bodies' documents were not checked.
  • Whether shops or restaurants may buy eggs from small sellers was not researched.
  • Legal notices made under the Food and Drugs Act after 2016 were not read.
  • Under the Municipal Corporations Act (text updated to 31 December 2016): Municipal Corporations Orders made under sections 48 and 187, which can extend the markets Part, are omitted from the revised edition and were not read; Act No. 19 of 2018, listed as amending the Act, was not read; Act No. 6 of 2023, which establishes the Boroughs of Diego Martin and Siparia, comes into operation on a date fixed by Proclamation, and whether it is in force was not established.
  • Whether the Municipal Corporations Act's market and bye-law rules reach Tobago was not established: no Municipal Corporation for Tobago appears in the Act's Schedules in the text read.
  • In the text read of Act No. 21 of 2020, only paragraphs (f) to (h) of section 37 (amendments to the Summary Offences Act) appear; whether its paragraphs (a) to (e) changed the Summary Offences Act definition of poultry was not established.

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