Open a restaurant business in Romania

I represent a Danish company and we would like to open a restaurant in Romania, and we would like more information regarding the authorizations that are necessary for us in order to do so. How can you assist us on this matter?

Opening a business in the foodservice sector, such as a restaurant, fast food, catering, etc. is a very complex and rigorous process, which alongside certain prior operations that outline the shape of your future company, involves obtaining certain authorizations.

Before submitting the documents to obtain the required permits specific to this area of activity, opening a restaurant in Romania involves determining the following: which form will your company take, and register it in the Trade Register in order to become a legal entity.

Opening a restaurant in Romania will involve some preliminary formalities, as follows:

• request for verification and/or reservation of availability of the company name, it is preferable to choose three variants of the future restaurant name, in the order of your preference.
• determine the scope of activity of the future company – in this case, the activity of your company will refer to activities in the catering sector and the establishment of this object of activity should be done by selecting the categories of activities framed by the following CAEN codes in this area:

• drawing up the association agreement in order to determine the most basic matters regarding your future company in the catering sector, namely: identification of partners, name and registered office, the company’s share capital, the duration of the company, the share of each shareholder of the company for losses and benefits, how the dissolution and liquidation of the company will take place etc.

After the development of these preliminary operations and the registration of your company in the Trade Register, you will need to obtain specific authorization for the functioning of your company in the catering sector, such as:

• the sanitary – veterinary authorization from ANSVSA – The National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority, through DSVSA – Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Directorate.

This authority oversees the legality of the activities in the public food system, namely restaurants, bistros, fast food, catering activities, etc., as well as activities of companies dealing with the sale of animal and non-animal food, etc.

To obtain this authorization, you are requested to prepare a file which will contain, among other things, the company’s unique registration code, the ascertaining certificate, the view of the restaurant, which presents the unit storage areas, toilets etc. and the application form for the sanitary and veterinary authorization.

Subsequently to the file submission, inspectors from the DSVSA will come to the space to observe the fulfillment of the conditions necessary for the operation of the restaurant.

• Public Health Department within the Ministry of Health, DSP does not issue certificates, it is informed about the issued ascertaining certificates and visits the locations operating in this area to ensure the proper functioning of the site and that public health is not jeopardized;
• environmental permit from NEPA – National Environmental Protection Agency;
• notification from IES – Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, especially amid the recent legislative changes in the field of defense against fire;
• tourism classification certificate from the Tourism Ministry, seeing as the methodological norms on the procurement of this certification govern the existence of several types of foodservice structures, for example with classical profile, specialized profile, specific profile, with artistic programs, etc.;
• obtaining the operating authorization from the city hall within the district where your restaurant or working point is located;
• license to broadcast ambient music;

Along with these authorizations, you will need to prepare some mandatory contracts which are required for the specific activities in the field of catering, such as:

• pest control, disinfection, and disinfestation contract;
• sanitation contract;
• occupational health contracts for your employees;
• license to broadcast ambient music;
• diplomas of hygiene training for your employees

For further information, as well as specialized legal assistance regarding how to open a restaurant in Romania, obtaining the specific operating permits from the competent authorities and concluding the necessary contracts for the operation of the restaurant, do not hesitate to contact the team of lawyers within the law Romania Company.