For a packaged-food manufacturer, DFTQC registration is not one certificate. You normally need a DFTQC recommendation before registering the food industry, then a food business licence before production starts. These approvals sit alongside company or firm registration, tax registration and the separate industry-registration route. The governing framework is the Food Hygiene and Quality Act, 2081.
Key highlights
- A manufacturer or processor needs a DFTQC recommendation before industry registration and a food business licence before production.
- The licence application requires a registered food business, product and capacity details, hygiene and quality methods, and responsible-person and premises information.
- DFTQC inspects the site and may test samples. A complete licence application must be decided within 30 days.
- The licence lasts two years. Apply to renew at least 35 days before expiry; late renewal is possible only within six months of expiry, with double the normal fee.
- A restaurant, retailer, importer or feed business does not automatically follow the manufacturer's route.
Does this DFTQC route apply to your business?
This guide is for a wholly Nepali-owned business that will manufacture, process or package food in Nepal. The Act treats commercial production, processing, preparation, packaging, storage, sale, distribution, import and export as food-business activities, but the approval changes with the activity (Food Hygiene and Quality Act, 2081, section 2(छ)).
| Activity | Main approval route | Responsible authority |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacture or process packaged food | DFTQC recommendation before industry registration; food business licence before production | DFTQC or its designated office |
| Restaurant, hotel, caterer, homestay, wholesaler or retailer | Food business licence for each local level where it operates | Concerned local level |
| Import food | Pre-import approval and entry permission at the border | DFTQC or its designated office |
| Export food | Quality certification only where required | DFTQC or its designated office |
For restaurants and retailers, the local-level licence is the relevant route; it is not the manufacturer's DFTQC sequence. Importers also need separate pre-import and border permissions. These distinctions come from sections 8, 9 and 13 of the Act. NeFFILS similarly distinguishes industry recommendations from food or feed product clearance.
For a new factory, confirm whether a product-related clearance is also needed before marketing a particular item. Do not assume one approval automatically covers every product line, premises or food activity.
What the two DFTQC approvals mean
The recommendation is an early check that your proposed food industry can maintain hygiene and quality. It supports the industry's registration; it is not permission to begin making food. Your application must state the proposed industry's capital, type and capacity, include a technical proposal explaining hygiene and quality arrangements and responsible staff, and be supported by a request from the industry-registration body (section 8(4)).
The food business licence is the operating approval. It is issued only after the food business has been registered and the DFTQC authority is satisfied following inspection and, where it considers necessary, sample testing. Production should begin only after the licence is issued (section 9).
Prepare before filing: information, documents and premises
Prepare the project before opening either application. The recommendation and licence are assessed against the operation you describe, so changes between your paperwork and your site can delay the review.
| Stage | Prepare | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Recommendation | Proposed capital, industry type and capacity; technical proposal on hygiene and quality; responsible technical staff; request from the industry-registration body | DFTQC uses these details to decide whether it can recommend the proposed industry. |
| Food business licence | Proof of food-business registration; food description and annual quantity; hygiene and quality technology or method; business address, contacts and responsible managers | These are the statutory licence-application particulars. |
| Site readiness | Clean production and packaging areas, the layout and process described in the application, and appropriate staffing | DFTQC inspects the site and may arrange testing before deciding the licence. |
The licence-stage document requirements are set out in section 9(3). In practical terms, complete the registration and make the premises inspection-ready before lodging that application. A partially fitted site is not a substitute for a site that demonstrates the hygiene and production system you have described.
DFTQC registration process for a new manufacturer
- Incorporate the company or register the firm. The food business licence later requires proof that the business is registered.
- Apply for DFTQC's recommendation. Submit the proposed capital, type, capacity and technical proposal required by section 8. If satisfied, DFTQC or its designated office issues the recommendation on payment of the prescribed fee (section 8(5)).
- Register the food-manufacturing industry. This is separate from DFTQC. The relevant industry office depends on the business's scale and location.
- Complete tax registration. Obtain PAN and assess VAT registration under the applicable tax rules.
- Finish premises preparation. Make the production and packaging areas consistent with your application before the licensing inspection.
- Apply for the food business licence. Submit the section 9(3) information to DFTQC's Director General or the relevant designated office. The authority inspects the premises and may test samples. If it is satisfied, it must issue the licence, with any conditions, within 30 days of a complete application (section 9(5)).
- Begin production after the licence is issued. Operating without the required licence is an offence.
NeFFILS is DFTQC's online platform for recommendation and licence applications. Use its current application flow and user guidance when filing, as portal labels and upload fields can change.
Fees and timing: what you can plan for
The Act requires a prescribed fee for the recommendation, licence and renewal, but the Act does not state the rupee amounts; the government may prescribe the procedure, format and fee through rules (sections 8, 9, 10 and 57). Confirm the applicable amount with DFTQC or on NeFFILS before budgeting.
The statutory time limit applies to a complete licence application: DFTQC must decide it within 30 days. The recommendation stage has no equivalent deadline in the Act. Plan the recommendation, industry-registration and premises-preparation stages as variable lead-time items, and do not treat the 30-day licence period as the duration of the whole project.
Your operating duties after licensing
The licence does not replace day-to-day food-safety obligations. A producer, processor or packager must keep food free from contamination and sub-standard conditions, follow a recognised hygiene-management system, keep production and packaging areas clean, and provide information when DFTQC or an inspection officer requests it (sections 15, 16 and 20).
You should also build traceability into normal operations. The Act requires records that follow food through production, processing, storage, distribution and sale. It prohibits placing a person with a communicable disease in food-production work until recovery (section 20).
For packaged food made and sold in Nepal, labels must give priority to Nepali and may also be in English. Required information includes the food name, producer name and address, composition, weight or volume, sale price, batch number, production date, expiry period where relevant and prescribed nutrition information (section 19).
DFTQC and authorised officers may inspect routinely or without notice, collect samples and stop the sale of a batch while testing is under way. If a marketed batch fails the required standard, DFTQC can order a recall at the food-business operator's cost (sections 26, 28–29, 31–33 and 38).
Renewal and the cost of missing the deadline
| Requirement | Timing or consequence |
|---|---|
| Licence validity | Two years from issue |
| Standard renewal application | At least 35 days before expiry, with last fiscal year's tax-clearance proof and updated information |
| Late renewal | Within six months of expiry, with double the normal renewal fee |
| Renewal decision | Within three months of application |
| Suspension | Possible for unresolved hygiene or quality problems, failure to meet minimum standards, or an unrenewed licence |
The renewal rules are in sections 10–12. Put the renewal deadline into the company calendar as soon as the licence arrives; renewal is much easier to manage before the 35-day window is missed.
Avoid these consequential mistakes
- Applying for industry registration before the DFTQC recommendation. The Act requires the recommendation first (section 8(1)).
- Treating the site inspection as a later construction task. The licence decision depends on an inspection of the premises you have described.
- Launching while the licence is pending. Unlicensed operation, or operation after suspension, can bring a fine of up to NPR 50,000 (sections 40 and 42).
- Using outdated food-law figures. The 2081 Act replaced the earlier Food Act, 2023. Older guidance can therefore state obsolete fees or penalties.
- Leaving labelling and records until after production. Traceability and label information are operating requirements, not merely a product-launch exercise.
Food-safety breaches have separate, more serious consequences depending on the conduct, including penalties for contaminated, sub-standard or deceptively labelled food and for labelling violations. A responsible director or partner may be liable where the individual offender cannot be identified (sections 40, 42 and 43).
DFTQC is one part of a wider manufacturing route
Industry classification and registration run under industrial-enterprise rules, not under the food law. The responsible office depends on the business's scale and location. If you need to establish that route, see industry registration in Nepal. Your site may also need environmental, construction or utility approvals outside DFTQC's remit. For broader permit readiness, see manufacturing licensing support.
How Company Darta Nepal can help
Food manufacturing projects often slow down because the promoter has not separated the DFTQC recommendation, industry registration, premises readiness and food-business licence into the correct sequence. Company Darta Nepal can help you identify the applicable food or feed route, prepare DFTQC and industry-registration documents, and coordinate the agreed licensing steps so the information submitted to each authority is consistent.
Prepare your proposed product range, process, capacity, site details, company documents and the people responsible for hygiene and quality. Company Darta Nepal can then help organise the required information and filings; DFTQC remains responsible for inspection, testing, licensing and renewal decisions.
Explore Company Darta Nepal's food business licensing service.
Before you submit follow this checklist:
- Company or firm registration is complete.
- Capital, process, capacity and technical hygiene proposal are settled for the DFTQC recommendation.
- Industry-registration route is identified.
- PAN and VAT position have been addressed.
- Premises, responsible staff, records and label information are ready for inspection and operation.
- The licence application accurately reflects the food, quantities, method and site you will operate.
