Maryland pet food registration

Firm license
none

Per product
$50
annual, due Apr 30

Tonnage
none for small packages

How to file
mixed · MDA State Chemist Renewal & Reporting Portal
Pay by portal: eCheck/ACH or credit card, portal 'Mail Payment to MDA' invoice + check, new registration: check with mailed form

You sign, pay and submit We fill the forms, compute the fee and tell you where it goes.

Calculate my Maryland fees

Details

Product fee	$50 $50 per brand/product name per year, any package size ('Is per product/brand name not per product weight'); customer-formula/contract feeds exempt if fee paid on component feeds
Renewal window	registration year ends April 30 'no matter when the registration was approved'; renew for the year starting May 1 via the online portal
Exempt	a distributor need not register a brand already registered by another person if the label is unchanged (§6-107(e))
Tonnage note	No feed tonnage/inspection fee (AAFCO: 'Inspection Fees and Reports: n/a'; MDA tonnage forms exist only for fertilizer, lime, soil conditioner)
Third-party filing	agent_account: “State Chemist Portal User Manual v3.4 (forms/MD/state-chemist-portal-user-guide-v3.4.pdf): 'The registrant administering companies and their products will receive a Registrant Number and PIN from the MDA State Chemist Section … Companies under the Registrant will be listed for the selection process. The Registrant will access the appropriate Company to select the products to be renewed.' Archived form (forms/MD/commercial-feed-registration-form-archived.pdf): 'Registrant Information: (outside party submitting/completing this registration. All correspondence will be sent here if completed)' with instructions 'Company/Person other than the company listed on the product label (firm) that is responsible for registration'; office-use block separates 'Registrant #' from 'Company #'; signature line 'Authorized Representative (please print) / Signature / Date'. — MDA's data model is Registrant (may be an outside party, holds the portal login) → one or more label Companies.”
Before you file	Step 1 (current page): email a PDF label to labels.statechemist@maryland.gov, subject 'Feed – Company Name'; allow 2 weeks; coordinator then emails registration instructions Labels PDF-only, filename = product name exactly; no paper labels Archived form required product list as Excel on disk/flash drive
Check payable to	Maryland Department of Agriculture
Mail to	Maryland Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 17304, Baltimore, MD 21297-1304 (payments); office 50 Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis, MD 21401
Public registry	pdf

How the online filing goes

Online or paper?
Order of operations — year one: labels by email, then pay by check with the packet; later years: cart then pay online
Log In → Create Account (from user guide)
Renew/Report → Renewing Products (from user guide)
Payment Options (from user guide)
Certificates → Print Certificates (from user guide)

Your packet lists every value for each screen. Renewals, in the portal cart: ACH/electronic check (release debit blocks for Originating ID 1522077581; no fee stated) or credit card (brands/fee not published), receipt emailed to the Receipt Email Address; or 'Mail Payment to MDA' which prints an invoice to send WITH a check payable to 'Maryland Department of Agriculture' to P.O. Box 17304, Baltimore, MD 21297-1304. Year one: no online payment — email labels first, then return MDA's emailed registration packet with a $50-per-product check. $50 per product/brand name per year; no feed tonnage fee in Maryland.

Forms

Good to know

Registration year is May 1 – April 30; a product approved in April still expires April 30 – time new registrations for May.
New-product intake is now email-first (label PDF for preliminary review) – the old mail-in form has been pulled from the site; expect emailed instructions per company.
Fee schedule PDF covers only lime/fertilizer/fert-pesticide (Feb–Jan season) – feed fee ($50) comes from the statute and the archived form.
Archived form has three blocks: Firm (label name), Registrant (outside party), Manufacturer – correspondence goes to the Registrant if filled.
Registered Feeds list is an 8.8 MB PDF updated periodically (last-modified Mar 2026).

Agency

Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA), State Chemist Section
https://mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Pages/Agricultural-Commodities-Registration-Information.aspx
410-841-2721 (fax 410-841-2740); registration questions Philip Davidson 410-841-2721

Sources: Md. Agric. §6-107 Registration · MDA Agricultural Commodities Registration Information · MDA State Chemist · New Feed & Pet Food Registration form (archived 2024) · State Chemist Portal User Manual v3.4 · Registered Product Reports · AAFCO – Maryland. Verified 2026-10-08. Not legal advice; confirm with the state before paying.