A guide to understanding Restaurant and Bar set up regulations in Malaysia

There are various rules and regulations one has to go through to setup a business in Malaysia. Setting up a restaurant and bar is of no difference too. Being a Muslim country on top of that, adds up various additional terms and conditions when liquor need to be served to the clients in bar or restaurants in Malaysia. Staring from serving food with halal certification to serving alcoholic beverages, all has their own rules and calls for a set of certifications and approvals. Here in this particular article we will try to understand restaurant and bar setup regulations in Malaysia.  

1. Business License

At first you need to have a business license. Whether bar, restaurant or any other business in Malaysia, you have to have a business license. It is compulsory by the corporate law of Malaysia to collect the business license. Such license needs to be processed once heading to set a business in Malaysia. In such case, SSM or companies commission of Malaysia look after the whole company incorporation process.

You need to give certain government charges during company incorporation process in Malaysia. During the process, you need to prepare and submit several documents of prove to the SSM as well. Here you will get all relevant terms and conditions of setting up all kind of companies, that include restaurant and bar business. You will be guided accordingly once you chose your niche of business here in Malaysia.

2. License for liquor

If you need to serve alcoholic beverages to your customer, you have the option for that too in Malaysia. You need to come up with the Distributive Imports and Exports license in order to deal with such approval. Here through this you will be permitted to have a liquor license. However, such to get such license, you need to follow some rules and regulations. However, the hardest part comes up when different states have different sets of rules for collecting license for liquor.

One thing that need to be admitted that, achieving a liquor license is quite a hassle here in Malaysia, on contrary, it is very easy to lose that approvals from that particular state. If you certainly need one of those licenses, you must have strong knowledge on the terms and conditions of the state you want to set your bar or alcohol-based business.

Another trouble that an entrepreneur relevant to this business might face is the high shooting price of alcoholic products. When the scenario is in this condition, you can’t effort a single day without consumers who have alcohol demands at great priority in Malaysia.

Your bar setup needs to be placed at a strategic position in Malaysia where alcohol consumers are at maximum. Preferably hotels or diplomatic zones where foreign correspondence are at maximum turns out to be the perfect site for setting up restaurant and pub business. 

3. Halal License

Malaysian food and health department looks after the halal licenses in Malaysia. Once again, the rules slightly vary from one state to get the halal license for your restaurant business. You need to be always standby as surveyors from the health department may visit at any time to your restaurant. You must be prepared with all your valid paperwork, as they might ask for it during their visit. Such enquiry may provoke anxiety in you, but if your business place is well managed and paperwork is well kept, this is not a problem. Such survey from the food department also ensures that your restaurant is operating in accordance with restaurant food safety regulations. You can expect sudden visits of these personnel time to time even after you have received your foodservice license here in Malaysia.

Some additional permissions

In summary, before finally opening your company to the public, you need to apply for all required licenses in Malaysia. There are various issues relevant to approval of the such license, for instance, license approval process is quite different if you are a foreign investor. There are some additional licenses you need to take care of when determined to set a restaurant or bar in this nation.

Other than halal and liquor approval license, you eventually have to have a Signboard License, MACP and PPM (for restaurant where it is needed to play music in the business premises). In addition, with that, if that restaurant is owned by the foreign entrepreneur, he/ she must need to have retailed or wholesale trade License and a premises volume of at least1,500 sq. ft. of space. There are several other approvals one might need to possess to overcome restaurant and Bar setup regulations in Malaysia Once in the field you will eventually get introduced with those, that comes with the requirements of the business you establish in Malaysia.