Street Trading and Food Licensing fees deferral available for affected businesses
The impact of the last few weeks has been significant, and while there are some businesses in Auckland back up and operating after the Anniversary weekend flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle, there are still impacts being felt. The Restaurant Association made recommendations to Auckland Council that they suspend licence fees for operators while the industry gets back on our feet. As a result, they have agreed to the following measures:
- For any business who is unable to trade, the Council can voluntarily suspend your food registration for a period of three to 12 months. This prevents operators from becoming overdue for verification.
- For those struggling businesses who are still able to trade and are due for verification, the Council can adjust verification by up to three months. This postpones the need to pay for your verification.
- The Council will also update any of these business’ food grading certificates to make sure these remain valid.
- All outdoor dining licences were extended from the July 2021- July 2022 period for eight months to help with the impact of lockdowns and Covid-19 alert levels. These are only due for renewal in March. On a case-by-case basis, council will consider extending outdoor dining licences for an additional three months.
The Restaurant Association is pleased that we have been able to engage with the Council to achieve these concessions to help businesses in the short term, as you start to get going again. These measures will not be applied automatically, however the Council’s Licensing & Regulatory Compliance teams will be able to assist to put the concessions in place. Reach out to them on 09 301 0101.
We also have recommendations in progress around alcohol licensing and will keep you up to date on any outcomes.