How to create a food company as a foreigner

18 May, 2020

How to create a food company as a foreigner

How to create a company is complex, but creating it in another country other than your own, with another culture, another language, other legal norms and another idiosyncrasy, is infinitely more complicated. Whether you are a citizen of the European Union (EU), member of the European Economic Area (EEA), that is, Norwegian, Icelandic or Liechtenstein, non-EU or Swiss citizen, in this post we share the basic requirements on how to create a food company as a foreigner in Spain. If you have further questions on this matter, do not hesitate to send us an email to the legal team of LegaleGo Abogados, we will answer you without obligation.

How to create a company as a foreigner? What requirements do I need to meet?

Whether you are a European citizen or a non-EU citizen, you can start a business in Spain, you only have to meet the following requirements if you want to live and work from Spain. It will not be necessary, if you only want to be a capitalist partner from your country of origin. What procedures do you need to carry out if you are a non-community immigrant? In addition to the requirements that we explain below: an initial authorization for temporary residence, another authorization for self-employment, in addition to the entrepreneur visa. The company can be set up in the corresponding Spanish consular office in the country of origin. By setting up the company, they give you the Spanish visa. Or it can be done in Spain, in this case you must apply for a residence visa for entrepreneurs at the Spanish consulate. This document will allow you to enter Spain legally and reside there while you carry out the necessary procedures to set up your company. Both in one case and the other, they will require a report of interest in entrepreneurial activity. It indicates if your project is of interest to the Spanish economy. Once in Spain, you will need to obtain a residence permit for entrepreneurs to manage your company. What if you are a citizen of the EU, the EEA or Switzerland? Compliance with the requirements described below will be sufficient, but if the stay in Spain exceeds 3 months, you must register in the Central Registry of Foreigners at the closest Immigration Office or Police Station.

Requirements for foreigners who undertake in Spain

According to the migration secretariat, these are the main requirements:

Reside in Spain legally.
That the alleged company has the capacity to create employment and has economic interest for Spain.
Be of age.
Have no criminal record in the past five years.
Do not appear as “rejectable” in Spain or in any country with which it has agreements.
Having health insurance in Spain.
Prove that you have sufficient resources for your maintenance and accommodation, as well as having the necessary investment to start operating.
Have the required qualification and accredited experience for the project.
Comply with current regulations on the necessary opening requirements, depending on the type of business.

Privileges for European citizens who undertake in Spain

The agreements in force between the EU member countries and the territories included in the European Economic Area, establish that any EU citizen has the right to create their own company, even as sole proprietor, in any EU or EEA country, and also to create a branch or subsidiary of an existing company that has its registered office in the EU and is already registered in an EU country.

Basic procedures for non-EU citizens to start in Spain

Once the requirements have been met, the following documents translated into Spanish must be presented to the corresponding Consular Office, and the following procedures must be carried out:

Open a bank account in Spain.
Prepare a report on the interest and viability of the entrepreneurial activity and a business plan.
Submit the application form in the official model (EX-07) in duplicate, duly completed and signed.
Register in the Treasury and register the company in the Mercantile Registry in person or telematically from CIRCE (Information Center and Business Creation Network).
If it is a retail trade and a premises with 300 square meters or less is required, the corresponding tax payment must be paid, as well as the declaration of responsibility.
For the rest of commercial activities it is mandatory to certify the licenses required for the development of the activity, indicating the necessary procedures and certifications.
Present the valid passport.
Fill in the residence ( Model 790 code 052 ) and work ( Model 790 code 062 ) models and pay the respective fees. These will accrue at the time of admission to the application process, and must be paid within ten business days.

In addition to all of the above, documentation will be presented to demonstrate compliance with the requested requirements: medical certificate, invalidity of a criminal record, justification of investment capacity, etc.

How to create a food business

All food companies in the European Union must comply with common legal requirements to be able to prepare, market and distribute their products throughout the territory, without the need for further controls at the destination, and to guarantee the safety of consumers. In this post, we will indicate what are the basic requirements to meet so as not to incur any illegality, explaining how to create a food business.

Basic requirements on how to create a food business

The basic requirements to create a food business are:

Safety: Companies will not market unsafe food.
Responsibility : companies will assume the responsibility that the food they produce, transport, store or sell is safe. In this way they will have to comply with the municipal regulations of their territory, for example, in terms of fire prevention, in addition to complying with the general hygiene requirements of companies in the sector, for example, ensuring the storage capacity of raw materials. and / or finished products, ventilation, waste management, pests, etc.
Traceability : Food companies must be able to quickly identify their suppliers or customers. That is why they must carry out a traceability plan back and forth, in order to locate any batch of products or food at any stage of the food chain.
Transparency: Food industries are obliged to immediately inform the competent authorities if they have reason to believe that the food under their responsibility is not safe. In this case, you will contact the Subdirectorate-General for Food Hygiene and Safety, at [email protected] or by phone 91 344 29 87/85, or the competent health authority in your community.
Emergency: Businesses will immediately recall a food if they have reason to believe they are unsafe.
Prevention: each company must know the risks that may appear in its elaboration process and submit them to control. For this reason, it must implement a hazard analysis and critical control points plan (HACCP), which is understood internationally as a highly effective method of guaranteeing food safety. Likewise, food companies must apply control measures to prevent or reduce to acceptable levels chemical (contaminants, pesticides …), physical (glass, metal …) or biological (parasites, bacteria …) hazards. .
Cooperation: the food industries will cooperate with the competent authorities in the actions taken to reduce the risks.

Authorizations and activity log

Almost all Spanish food companies must be registered in the General Health Registry of Food and Food Companies (RGSEAA). If you want more information about which companies are exempt from the RGSEAA and how to make such registration, here is more information. In case you are a retail establishment, you will have to register in the autonomous registry of the General Directorate of Public Health to create a file for it in the Official Public Health Registry Service.

Export permissions

If the company will also export food, it will have to issue a health certificate for the export of food products, -to export to some non-EU countries that require it together with the food items- and / or a free sale certificate -in the case to export at national or community level.

Flexibility in requirements

European food hygiene and safety regulations provide that health authorities apply some flexibility in criteria in specific situations, while still ensuring food safety. Said authorities may be flexible establishing exceptions or exemptions to certain requirements, adapting them, or excluding some activities from the scope of the HACCP. Likewise, it is important that the label with which the product is marketed complies with all the regulations on product labels. In the case of food supplements, in addition, the health authorities must be notified before.