Changes to game licensing for taking or selling game and venison

Note: This is our original regulation update text, published on 10 July 2007. Unlike the rest of our site, this archived material is not updated if the law changes.

Relevant to
Game dealers and retailers in England and Wales

Took effect on
1 August 2007

From 1 August 2007, new regulations will remove existing licensing requirements for the game trade.

This means that you will no longer have to hold a local authority licence or an excise licence in order to deal in game.

Restrictions on dealing in game birds and venison during the close season will no longer apply. This means that any person will be allowed to sell game and venison all year round provided the animals in question were lawfullykilled.

You will no longer be required to keep records - as previously required under section 11 of the Deer Act 1991 - relating to the sale and purchase of venison. You will only have to keep records to the level specified in EC Regulation 178/2002 if you sell game birds or venison. This will allow your business to set up traceability records with a level of detail that fits the size and nature of your activities.

If you deal in game birds or venison, you should check your source before you either:

sell
offer or expose for sale
possess or transport for purposes of sale

This is because you could be committing an offence if you know or have reason to believe that the game bird or venison you offer for sale was unlawfully killed, taken or poached during the close season.

The new regulations will also remove the requirement for a licence to kill or take game.

Find the detail on the new rules on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website - Opens in a new window

Full title of regulation
Regulatory Reform (Game) Order 2007

From
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

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Changes to game licensing for taking or selling game and venison

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