In order to mitigate tough trading conditions, the UAE authorities have recently implemented a couple of measures to boost business & trade which are relevant to the food & drink industry.
1. Temporary waiver of Arabic labelling for UK food Companies
The Department of International Trade (DIT) in the UAE has successfully lobbied UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change & Environment (MOCCAE), Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) and Dubai Municipality (DM) to ease some of the requirements for food & drink companies selling into the UAE.
Consequently, these three agencies have agreed to temporarily allow food items to enter all Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other UAE ports without the mandatory Arabic labelling requirement and without having to stamp production dates on mandatory items. However, expiry/best by dates still need to be mentioned on all items.
This change does not apply to alcoholic beverages as the clearance of these items are managed by customs authorities.
Emirates Quality Mark (EQM) for water products site audits has now been replaced with online audit. The end date to this isn’t stated as well. There are no changes to halal certification and other ESMA requirements as of now.
ADAFSA and DM have not provided an end-date to this and the assumption is that this will go on until the Covid-19 crisis is over. MOCCAE, however, will allow this wavier until June 30th, 2020.The Ministry will review the situation at the end of this period and will grant an extension if required.
2. Customs duty discount on all imports
Dubai Customs is offering a 20% reduction in custom duty imposed on imported goods sold locally in the UAE. This discount is aimed at reducing the cost of doing business in the Emirate in order to support trade. This offering is currently valid for goods processed under import declaration from March 15, 2020 to June 30th, 2020 and sees a reduction of custom duty from 5% to 4%.
In addition, Dubai Customs has revoked the AED 50,000 bank or cash guarantee required to undertake customs brokerage activities. Bank or cash guarantees deposited by existing customs brokers and clearing companies will be refunded. This Customs notice came into effect on March 15, 2020.