Verification
Registered food businesses need to be independently checked (called “verifying”) to make sure they are selling safe food. This should be done within six weeks of the business registering.
A verifier will visit your business to check you and your staff understand and are following the processes and procedures outlined in your FCP or NP (through actions and records).
- FCP businesses that trade only in the Kāpiti Coast area are verified by Council staff
- NP businesses, and those FCP businesses that also trade outside of Kāpiti, are verified by a third-party verifier (the Ministry for Primary Industries' Recognised persons – our Council staff are not approved third-party verifiers).
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) outlines everything you need to know about verification in their Getting your food business verified section.
Verification frequency
If you’ve shown you’re meeting all the requirements on your business, you may have longer periods between verification visits. If the verifier has some concerns though, you may need to have more regular verification checks. Visits generally occur on the following timetable:
| Business type | After... | your business can go to... |
| FCP (generally 12 months between verifications) |
two acceptable outcomes | 18 months between verifications |
| NP3 | one acceptable outcomes | two years between verifications |
| NP2 | one acceptable outcomes | three years between verifications |
| NP1 | one acceptable outcomes | no further verifications. |