No cottage food law yet — but there is a legal path. Here's everything CHamoru home food makers need to know about selling your creations on Guam, legally and confidently.
Unlike all 50 US states and most other territories, Guam has not passed a cottage food exemption. Home-based food businesses in Guam are subject to the same licensing and inspection requirements as commercial food establishments. Bills have been introduced — in 2019, 2023, and advocacy is ongoing — but none have become law.
This does not mean you cannot legally sell food from home. It means the bar is higher. The Home Industry license from the Department of Revenue and Taxation, combined with a DPHSS Sanitary Permit for your home kitchen, is the legal pathway currently available to home food sellers on Guam. This guide explains both.
Every US state and Washington D.C. now has a cottage food law. Most US territories have one or are actively working toward it. Guam remains one of the only jurisdictions in the country without an exemption for home food sellers — meaning the guyuria your grandmother makes, the rosketti sold at village fiestas, the kelaguen traded at the CHamoru Village Night Market all exist in a legal gray zone that advocates have been working for years to resolve.
Former Senator Mary Camacho Torres, writing in The Guam Daily Post in February 2025, put it plainly: home-based food businesses in Guam are currently subject to the same rules and regulations as retail food establishments, including all licensing requirements, permits, and fees. That's the reality today.
The good news: a legal pathway does exist. Guam's business licensing system includes a category specifically called Home Industry — defined as manufacturing items out of raw materials at home. Combined with a Sanitary Permit from the Department of Public Health and Social Services Division of Environmental Health (DPHSS/DEH), this is how Guam's home food sellers can operate above-board right now.
Obtain a Home Industry Business License from the Guam Department of Revenue and Taxation (DRT). This is the business license category for making goods from raw materials at home. Immediate family may assist; you cannot hire employees outside the household.
Obtain a DPHSS Sanitary Permit for your home kitchen. The Division of Environmental Health (DEH) will inspect your kitchen against Guam Food Code standards. This is the same standard applied to retail food establishments — so preparation is important.
Obtain a Health Certificate from DPHSS. Food handlers at licensed food establishments must be certified — this involves a physical exam and tuberculosis screening.
Register for Gross Receipts Tax (GRT) with DRT. Guam has no consumer sales tax — instead, businesses pay GRT on their revenues, filed quarterly at GuamTax.com.
For events and markets: Obtain a Temporary Food Service Establishment (TFSE) Sanitary Permit from DEH for each event, fair, or market where you sell food.
Advocates have introduced cottage food bills multiple times in the Guam Legislature — in 2019 (Speaker Tina Muña Barnes), and with renewed calls in 2023 (Senator Mary Camacho Torres). The 38th Guam Legislature (2025–2026) is the current session. If a bill is introduced, it will appear on the Guam Legislature bill search.
To contact the Legislature about cottage food legislation: Guam Legislature Clerk — (671) 472-3465. Your voice as a home food producer matters in moving this forward.
Nine pages covering everything a Guam home food seller needs to know — from what you can make to how to get licensed.
Which foods are allowed under a Home Industry license, which have restrictions, and which require separate commercial licensing.
Read Guide →Jams, sauces, baked goods, spices, and other shelf-stable products — requirements, labeling, and how to sell them in Guam.
Read Guide →Temperature-controlled foods, prepared meals, and the requirements for home-made dishes sold in Guam.
Read Guide →Kombucha, cold brew, juices, and specialty drinks — what's allowed, what's restricted, and alcohol rules.
Read Guide →Step-by-step: the Home Industry license, DPHSS Sanitary Permit, Health Certificate, and everything else required to operate legally.
Read Guide →What must appear on every product label — ingredients, allergens, net weight, producer information, and FDA rules for Guam sellers.
Read Guide →Sole proprietor vs. LLC in Guam, business name registration, Gross Receipts Tax, and your complete start-to-sell checklist.
Read Guide →Meat, dairy, fermented foods, alcohol, and acidified products — the separate licensing paths beyond the Home Industry license.
Read Guide →Answer a few questions about your products and get a personalized compliance checklist — exactly which permits, inspections, and steps apply to your specific food business in Guam.
Create Free Account to Use This Tool →The CHamoru people have occupied Guam for more than 4,000 years, and food has always sat at the center of island life. Long before any permit system existed, families gathered after Sunday Mass, spread out dishes from their home kitchens, and fed entire villages. That tradition is alive today — at the Chamorro Village Wednesday Night Market in Hagåtña, at the Dededo Flea Market on weekends, and at the village fiestas that mark each community's calendar.
CHamoru cuisine is one of the most distinctive in the Pacific — a living record of the island's layered history. Spanish colonial influence introduced achote seeds (the source of the deep orange color in red rice), the tamale traditions adapted into local pasteles, and the vinegar-based condiment culture that became finadene. Filipino migration brought potu rice cakes and fermented influences. Japanese occupation, American military presence, and the arrival of Korean and other Asian communities all left their marks on a cuisine that is uniquely, unmistakably Guamanian.
Guyuria and rosketti — the traditional CHamoru cookies cited in the failed 2019 cottage food bill — are perfect examples of foods that have been made in home kitchens and traded informally for generations. The legal framework has not caught up with the cultural reality. This guide exists to help Guam's home food makers understand the current rules while the island works toward the cottage food law its community deserves.
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