National rules

Can you sell backyard eggs in Uruguay?

Commercial egg farms in Uruguay must register with MGAP and get sanitary approval, and eggs must be labelled with their size and the number per box. Whether a home flock selling a few eggs is covered was not established.

Read from 3 official sources26 passages quotedChecked October 29, 2026

At a glance

License

Depends how you sell

Small-flock line

Commercial egg farms: MGAP registration and sanitary approval

Farmers markets

Ask the departmental government

Cartons

Not stated

In plain English

Decreto 396/019 makes registration and sanitary approval by MGAP compulsory for egg-production establishments of hens (Gallus gallus domesticus) exploited for commercial purposes: they must obtain sanitary approval, then register in MGAP's Sistema de Monitoreo Avícola (SMA), and have the approval endorsed every year with a certificate from an approved or accredited private veterinarian. Unregistered establishments may not move, sell or receive birds and eggs from other establishments. Separately, the national food regulation (Reglamento Bromatológico Nacional) sets the conditions a food business must meet to be habilitated by the competent bromatology office, and prohibits handling food in premises not habilitated beforehand. No definition of commercial purposes was found in Decreto 396/019 (all 20 articles read), and no small-seller provision for eggs was found in the texts read on 2026-10-29 (Decreto 396/019; RBN Chapters 1, 5 and 15). Ask MGAP and your departmental bromatology office before selling.

A sourced reading of the rules in Uruguay, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with Ministerio de Ganadería, Agricultura y Pesca (MGAP); departmental bromatology offices before you sell.

Do you need a license?

Depends on whether your hens are kept for commercial purposes (not defined)Commercial egg farms: MGAP registration and sanitary approval
  • Commercial egg-production establishments: sanitary approval first, then registration in the SMA.Decreto 396/019 Arts. 1, 2
  • The sanitary approval must be endorsed every year with a certificate from an approved or accredited private veterinarian.Art. 4
  • Handling food in premises that were not habilitated beforehand is prohibited (RBN 5.4.1(c)); habilitation is granted by the competent bromatology office (1.1.43).
  • No definition of commercial purposes was found in Decreto 396/019 (all 20 articles read).
The exact wording
“explotadas con fines comerciales”

Where you can sell

From home or the farm

Not stated

No farm-gate rule for eggs was found in the national texts read (Decreto 396/019; RBN Chapters 1, 5 and 15). Commercial poultry establishments not registered in the Sistema de Monitoreo Avícola (SMA) may not move, sell or receive birds and eggs from other establishments (Decreto 396/019 Art. 3), and handling food in premises that were not habilitated beforehand is prohibited (RBN 5.4.1(c)); whether a household selling eggs from its own hens is covered was not established. Ask MGAP and the departmental bromatology office.

Farmers markets

Not stated

No market rule for egg sellers was found in the national texts read (Decreto 396/019; RBN Chapters 1, 5 and 15; Ley 9.515 Art. 35). The Intendente of each department inspects food for human consumption and may prohibit the sale of food deemed harmful (Ley 9.515 Art. 35(24)(G)); ask the departmental government.

Stores and restaurants

Not stated

No rule for selling eggs to shops or restaurants was found in the national texts read. Lots of eggs must be transported and sold identified with the DICOSE number of the producing establishment (Decreto 396/019 Art. 13).

Also check with: Departmental governments (Intendente's hygienic and sanitary police, Ley 9.515 Art. 35(24)); competent bromatology offices (RBN 1.1.41)

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

  • The name of the egg's size class
  • The number of eggs per box
  • Lots of eggs transported and sold must be identified with the DICOSE number of the establishment where they were produced

Grading

Eggs are classed by size and labelled with that class and the number per box; a quality grade on the pack is optional. Whether this reaches eggs a household sells loose was not established.

The national food regulation classes eggs by size and requires them to be labelled with the name of the size class and the number of eggs per box (RBN 15.2.4-15.2.5); whether that reaches eggs sold loose by a household was not established. Showing a quality grade on the pack is optional; where the classification is shown, the code order is quality, size, shell colour (15.3.3).

Washing

A fresh egg must come from healthy animals and have an intact, clean, unwashed shell (RBN 15.2.1).

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

Keeping chickens in Uruguay? →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 Uruguay, and do I need a license?
Commercial egg farms in Uruguay must register with MGAP and get sanitary approval, and eggs must be labelled with their size and the number per box. Whether a home flock selling a few eggs is covered was not established. Small-flock line: commercial egg farms: MGAP registration and sanitary approval. The conditions, and the law they come from, are on this page.
Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Uruguay?
Not stated in the sources we read. No market rule for egg sellers was found in the national texts read (Decreto 396/019; RBN Chapters 1, 5 and 15; Ley 9.515 Art. 35). The Intendente of each department inspects food for human consumption and may prohibit the sale of food deemed harmful (Ley 9.515 Art. 35(24)(G)); ask the departmental government. Also check with Departmental governments (Intendente's hygienic and sanitary police, Ley 9.515 Art. 35(24)); competent bromatology offices (RBN 1.1.41).
Can I reuse egg cartons in Uruguay?
The sources we read do not say; ask Ministerio de Ganadería, Agricultura y Pesca (MGAP); departmental bromatology offices before reusing cartons for eggs you sell.
What has to be on the carton label in Uruguay?
The name of the egg's size class, The number of eggs per box, Lots of eggs transported and sold must be identified with the DICOSE number of the establishment where they were produced.
Sources
Read the 26 passages this page is built on
What we couldn't confirm
  • No definition of commercial purposes was found in Decreto 396/019 (all 20 articles read); whether a household selling a few eggs must register with MGAP was not established.
  • The national food regulation defines a fresh egg as one not preserved except by climatising the room at 8 to 15 °C and 70 to 90% relative humidity (RBN 15.1.2); no storage temperature rule for egg sellers was found in the parts read (RBN Chapters 1, 5 and 15, and numeral 12.1.3); its storage and sales chapters (Chapters 8 and 10) were not read.
  • Whether the size-labelling rule reaches eggs sold loose by a household was not established. In its chapter on materials in contact with food, the national food regulation says food and its raw materials may not be in contact with cardboard, paper or rubber that is not first-use (RBN 12.1.3(d)); IMPO's note to that chapter lists later decrees that modify it (among them Decreto 186/024), which were not read, so whether this rule is current, and whether it reaches egg cartons, was not established. No other carton rule was found in the parts read (RBN Chapters 1, 5 and 15, and numeral 12.1.3); the rest of Chapter 12 was not read.
  • No departmental ordinance was read.
  • IMPO's notes to the national food regulation show its general labelling section for packaged food (Chapter 1, Section 4) as repealed by Decreto 117/006 and modified by later decrees; the labelling rules now in force for packaged food were not read.

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