Franchising your business in Belgium: check your licensing requirements

A successful business is not automatically one that can be replicated legally. Your current operations may rely on authorisations, registrations or local conditions that do not automatically extend to another operator. If you want to franchise your existing business in Belgium, first establish which parts of your concept can be implemented elsewhere under the same conditions. This will help you build a franchise network around a concept that is not only commercially viable, but administratively feasible too.

1. Establish what your own operations actually rely on

Do not start with a generic checklist for new businesses. Start with the activities you actually carry out today. Do you only sell products, or do you also prepare food? Do you store goods? Do you use equipment or installations that could affect the environment? Do your staff carry out activities subject to specific requirements?

Match each activity to the relevant registration, authorisation or licence. Then check with the competent authority exactly what it covers: the business, the operator, the premises, a particular installation or a clearly defined activity. This distinction determines which steps a future franchisee will need to take themselves.

In Belgium, requirements may include regional environmental rules and obligations towards the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC, known as FAVV in Dutch), depending on the activity. Not all food-related activities require the same formalities. Have the authority confirm whether registration, authorisation or approval is required for the intended operations.

A licence for your own business does not prove that every franchisee can operate under the same conditions. Use existing documents as a starting point for your checks, not as an automatically transferable part of the franchise package.

Include activities added over time, too. An extra preparation stage or storage area may be missing from your original business description, even though it has since become essential to the concept.

2. Separate the core concept from local requirements

Next, create a licensing matrix with five entries for each activity:

• which formality may apply;
• which authority confirms whether it applies;
• who must submit the application or registration;
• which information or technical documents are needed;
• how any conditions or restrictions affect the concept.

The aim is not to establish one definitive answer for the whole of Belgium. Regional and municipal rules can differ. Above all, you need to know which questions must be checked each time.

Consider, for example, a concept involving on-site food preparation. If that preparation entails specific requirements for the premises or fit-out, it may affect investment, working processes and space requirements. An alternative in which products are prepared elsewhere may bring different obligations. Do not treat this as a purely commercial choice.

Divide your concept into a fixed core and elements that can be adapted following prior checks. Identify which restrictions would make the concept unworkable. If an essential activity is not permitted, you need to be able to walk away rather than redesign the entire concept afterwards.

This assessment comes before evaluating individual premises: it establishes the legal and administrative conditions under which your concept can be replicated at all.

3. Define responsibilities without promising certainty

A franchisee remains an independent business owner. Using your brand does not replace their own business formalities. These include registration with Belgium’s Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, VAT registration where required, and membership of a social insurance fund. Employing staff brings employer obligations, including registration with the National Social Security Office (NSSO, known as RSZ in Dutch) and the required DIMONA employment declarations.

For activity-specific authorisations, agree on the support you will provide. Will you supply technical descriptions, equipment information or an overview of production processes? Who will answer follow-up questions from the authorities? Who will check whether a change to the concept affects existing authorisations?

Distinguish clearly between support and responsibility. You can guide a prospective franchisee, but you cannot guarantee a favourable decision from an authority. Nor does a contractual allocation of tasks change who is responsible under the applicable rules.

Reconstruct one application process from your own outlet: which documents were needed, which questions came up repeatedly, and which adjustments followed? This will provide useful practical knowledge. However, do not present the time taken for that single application as a fixed timescale for future franchisees.

4. Address uncertainties before entering into a contract

Belgium has no standalone law governing every aspect of franchise agreements. Alongside general contract law, however, specific pre-contractual disclosure obligations apply under Title 2 of Book X of the Belgian Code of Economic Law to commercial cooperation agreements that fall within the statutory definition, including franchise agreements.

Under Article X.27 of the Code, the prospective franchisee must receive the draft agreement and the pre-contractual disclosure document at least one month before the agreement is concluded. During this statutory period, as a general rule, no commitments may be entered into and no payments may be requested or made, subject to statutory exceptions.

Seek legal advice on how to reflect relevant licensing requirements and known uncertainties in the pre-contractual disclosure and the agreement. Above all, avoid suggesting that your approval under the franchise system also amounts to authorisation from the authorities. State which checks are still required and which assumptions underpin investment estimates or schedules.

Practical takeaway: first establish which authorisations allow your existing business to operate. Then set out what each franchisee must have confirmed afresh. Only once that process is clear will you know whether your concept can be replicated from an administrative perspective.