Licence under catering law for temporary serving of alcohol on special occasions; application

The scope of application of Section 12 GastG applies if the catering is only provided for a limited period of time on the occasion of an event. A special occasion can be assumed if the catering activity in question is linked to a short-term, infrequently occurring event that lies outside the catering activity (the occasion must therefore be exclusively non-gastronomic in nature).

As the spatial and environmental requirements for events are usually already regulated and ensured as part of the organisation of the event, the examination under catering law for events regularly focuses on the personal requirement of reliability.

The documents listed below must be submitted to substantiate reliability.

In order for a fictitious authorisation to be granted free of charge, the application must be submitted at least two weeks before the planned event. An application that is not submitted on time and for which it is no longer possible to properly review the eligibility for authorisation by the planned date of the event justifies the rejection of the permit.

• Please state your surname and first name with a summonable address,
• Indication of the place and period of the catering business,
• Indication of the food and drinks intended for administration.

• a valid travelling trade licence,
• a valid catering licence,
• another valid licence under commercial law that is dependent on reliability,
• a licence for a previous similar serving of alcoholic beverages with the assurance that this was carried out without official objection or
• a certificate of good conduct and an extract from the Central Trade Register in accordance with section 150(1), first sentence, or section 150(5) of the Trade Regulation Act (GewO), neither of which may be more than one year old

If no old authorisation notice is available, proof of reliability can also be provided by stating the specific location, period and scope of the serving of alcoholic beverages not objected to by the authorities. Proof of good repute from another EU country of origin in the form of a certified copy and a certified German translation, which could also be replaced by an affidavit in lieu of an oath or comparable acts, can also be submitted.

For non-EU citizens: residence permit authorising the exercise of self-employed activity as well as proof of good repute (official certificate of good conduct or good character or extract from the criminal record of the home country or an equivalent document and/or a certificate of good conduct for authorities and information from the central trade register.

If there is no doubt that the authorisation requirements have been met, the municipality can waive the preparation and issuance of a notice ("fictitious authorisation"). In this case, no costs are charged.

If the municipality incurs significant inspection costs in an individual case, the municipality will issue a chargeable notice (see 5.III.7.2 List of costs), if necessary with an extension of the deadline (see Art. 42a para. 2 sentences 3 and 4 of the Bavarian Administrative Procedure Act).

Permission due to fictitious authorisation: free of charge

Authorisation in all other cases: 30 to 2000 EUR

Certificate of good conduct and extract from the central trade register: EUR 13 each

• § Section 12 of the German Catering Act (GastG)
• § Section 2 Bavarian Ordinance on the Implementation of the Catering Act (Bavarian Catering Ordinance - BayGastV)
• Annex to the Ordinance on the Enactment of the Schedule of Costs under the Costs Act (Kostenverzeichnis - KVz)

• Enforcement of the Catering Act

The application for a catering permit for an event must be submitted in text form (i.e. a simple e-mail or via a provided online procedure is sufficient) to the responsible municipality.