All states › Do I need a license to sell dog treats? › Maryland
No published rule found on selling pet treats made in a home kitchen; ask the Maryland Department of Agriculture, State Chemist Section. Product registration: $50/yr. License: none. Tonnage report: no.
No published rule No published rule found on selling pet treats made in a home kitchen; ask the Maryland Department of Agriculture, State Chemist Section. Agency page.Source: mda.maryland.gov · We read the agency's pet food and feed pages, its law and rules, and the state's cottage food rules, and found no statement either way on making pet treats in a home kitchen.
Maryland's cottage food guidance applies to food for people only; the health department refers dog treat makers to the Department of Agriculture's State Chemist.Source: health.maryland.gov · Maryland Department of Health, Cottage Food FAQs (September 2025), Q33: “Are pet foods or treats covered in the guidance document? No. The cottage food guidance document applies to human food only.”
Checked October 3, 2026 against Maryland Department of Agriculture, State Chemist Section's published pages and Maryland's law. We don't judge whether any particular product or kitchen qualifies; that's for the agency, Maryland Department of Agriculture, State Chemist Section.
Product registration: $50/yr. License: none.
| What's registered | Per product: each brand name or product name of commercial feed, including pet food and specialty pet food, is registered before it is distributed in Maryland. No firm license.Source: mgaleg.maryland.gov · Md. Code, Agric. §6-107(a). Commercial feed includes feed for dogs and cats and for caged or tank pets such as hamsters, birds, fish, snakes and turtles (§6-101(d)). |
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| Product registration fee | $50 per product per yearSource: mgaleg.maryland.gov · Md. Code, Agric. §6-107(c). MDA's Application for Registration of Commercial Feeds also says $50.00 per product or brand. |
| Package-size rule | No package-size rule. The $50 fee is per brand or product name.Source: mgaleg.maryland.gov |
| License / firm fee | None (Maryland has no firm license for feed or pet food)Source: mgaleg.maryland.gov · The Maryland Commercial Feed Law (Agric. §§6-101 to 6-117) registers products only. |
| Registration period | From the date of registration to April 30. Every registration expires April 30 each year.Source: mgaleg.maryland.gov · Md. Code, Agric. §6-107(d). MDA's application says the $50 covers the period from the actual date of registration until April 30, so a product registered in March still pays $50. |
| Renewal due | Renew by April 30 each yearSource: mgaleg.maryland.gov · Registrations expire April 30 (§6-107(d)). MDA's State Chemist Section takes renewals online. |
| Form or portal | https://egov.maryland.gov/mda/chemistSource: mda.maryland.gov · New products: MDA first asks for a PDF of each label by email to labels.statechemist@maryland.gov, subject “Feed – Your Company Name”, for preliminary review (allow 2 weeks); the commodity coordinator then emails registration instructions. Renewals are online at the State Chemist Renewal and Reporting site. MDA's paper Application for Registration of Commercial Feeds (2018) is at https://mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Documents/FeedReg.pdf but isn't linked from the current State Chemist pages. |
| License / firm form | None. No firm license for pet food in Maryland.Source: mgaleg.maryland.gov · No firm license for pet food in Maryland. |
| What to send | A PDF of each product label, emailed to labels.statechemist@maryland.gov for preliminary review; then the registration MDA's commodity coordinator sends you, with $50 per product. MDA may ask for documents supporting any claim on the label.Source: mda.maryland.gov · MDA's paper application lists each product's complete name, protein, whether it is cat or dog feed, a label for each product, and a check payable to the Maryland Department of Agriculture. |
| Tonnage report required? | No. Maryland charges a flat fee per product; the feed law has no tonnage report or inspection fee for pet food.Source: mgaleg.maryland.gov · The only per-ton charge in the law is the equine feed assessment on horse feed (Agric. §6-107.2). |
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| How often | Not applicableSource: mgaleg.maryland.gov |
| Due | Not applicableSource: mgaleg.maryland.gov |
We show who files and when, not the fee: tonnage fees depend on how much you sell. What a tonnage report is, state by state.
Every Maryland fact, with sources: Maryland pet food & treat registration. Selling in several states? The free calculator adds up the fees, and the $49 Registration Pack turns them into a checklist and renewal calendar.
Nearby: Selling dog treats in Pennsylvania · Selling dog treats in Delaware · Selling dog treats in Virginia · Selling dog treats in West Virginia · Selling dog treats in District of Columbia
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