From yesterday, only takeaways registered with the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) are authorised to run their business.
The have been given half a year to formalise their registration.
In a statement yesterday, the bureau pointed out that the formal implementation of the government’s mandatory registration system for the city’s takeaways commenced yesterday.
The city’s eateries and restaurants are licensed by the Municipal Affairs Bureau or the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO). However, until yesterday takeaways were not covered by the government’s licensing system for the restaurant sector as they do not provide on-site dining services.
The new registration system covers takeaways which are not covered by the government’s licensing system for the restaurant sector.
Yesterday’s statement noted that the new registration system aims to ensure food safety by strengthening the government’s supervision of the production and processing of food in the city.
From now on, the statement noted, those who intend to run a takeaway have to register with the Municipal Affairs Bureau first before being allowed to run the business.
However, according to the statement, existing takeaways – i.e., those that had registered with the Financial Services Bureau (DSF) to run a business before the new registration system took effect yesterday – can register with the Municipal Affairs Bureau within six months after the registration system came into force yesterday.
The statement noted that those who run a takeaway without registration will face a fine of 20,000 patacas.
This undated handout photo provided by the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) yesterday shows an IAM inspector showing a staff member of a takeaway a poster about the new mandatory registration system for the city’s takeaways.
