The beauty and personal care industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council has grown exponentially over the last five years and is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of over 11% between 2018 and 2023. The personal care sector is tightly regulated in the Middle East. In fact, the Member States of the GCC has adopted a broad variety of regulations governing this sector. This ensures that it is of utmost importance for foreign businesses wishing to manufacture and sell such regulated goods in the region to consider how to manage the regulatory and legal process. In this post, we will look at the necessary steps to Import Cosmetic Products in the UAE.
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Import Cosmetic Products in UAE
In the UAE, the Emirates Standardization and Meteorological Authority (ESMA) is the body set up and mandated by Federal Law No 28 of 2001 to govern and monitor the personal care industry in the country. The Authority (ESMA) has introduced a product classification and certification scheme, the Emirates Conformity Assessment Scheme (ECAS), for both imported and locally produced cosmetics and perfumery products. The aim of the ECAS is to ensure that these goods comply with the relevant technical requirements before being imported into the UAE, at the port of entry or on the UAE market (for locally produced goods).
These basic requirements include health, safety, packaging, labeling, and metrology. If the goods are found to comply with the specifications of the ECAS, the Authority shall grant an ECAS Certificate of Conformity. Ports and customs departments will only allow imported goods with an ECAS Certificate of Compliance to reach the country and be sold onward. Once a Certificate of Compliance has been issued by the ESMA, the imported and locally produced cosmetics and perfume goods must be registered with the appropriate municipality in the UAE before they can be marketed for sale on the retail market.
Legal Considerations
In order to be marketed for sale and for use in the UAE, imported and locally produced cosmetics and perfumery items must comply with the health and safety criteria set down under the following laws:
- The “Cosmetics Law” applies to all types of cosmetics and personal care products offered, manufactured, imported, supplied, packed, or used within the UAE.
- The “Fragrances Law” applies to all types of perfume products offered, manufactured, imported, exported, packed, or used within the UAE.
Process of Registration
The process for obtaining a certificate of conformity is as follows:
- Registration of the applicant on the ESMA website
- Submission of the application form together with the qualifying documents
- Conformity assessment of the product with the requirements of the approved standards by ESMA
- If the products comply with the requirements, the products are registered and ESMA issues an ECAS Certificate of Conformity, upon payment of the applicable official fees
The ECAS Certificate of Conformity constitutes evidence that the product has been approved by the UAE Federal Government through ESMA. It shall be valid for one year and shall be renewed at least one month before the end of validity.
Supporting Documents
Below is the list of the documents required to be submitted along with the application form in order to register for the compliance certificate of the product:
- Valid UAE trade license: only a company incorporated in the UAE may proceed with such registration process
- Test Report from an accredited and recognized laboratory according to Gulf standard
- A certified document issued by the manufacturer setting out the ingredients and corresponding percentages
- For imported products: Free sale certificate issued by the Competent authority in the country of origin
- Representative artwork and label of the product according to Gulf standard
- Health and Safety report related to the product.
Registered products are subjected to periodic review and market surveillance by ESMA to ensure that products are consistently complying with the applicable technical regulations.
Registration with the Municipality
In addition to the above-mentioned formalities, cosmetics and personal care products must be registered with the Dubai Municipality (DM) or the Municipality of the relevant Emirate in which the products are intended to be sold. It is important to note that only a company registered in the UAE may proceed with cosmetic product registration. It may therefore be the local importer, manufacturer or distributor of the product.
Once registered with the relevant Municipality, the applicant may proceed with the application process by submitting the following information alongside the application form:
- Picture or artwork of the product illustrating all the required information
- Free Sale Certificate from the country of origin (for imported products)
- Analysis and Ingredients Report from the manufacturing company
- Laboratory Test report related to certain heavy metal and preservatives
- ESMA Certificate of Conformity
Note that the Municipality may request other documentation, on a case by case basis.
Distributing the Products in the UAE
Given the point that only a company operating in the UAE can register goods/products with the Authority and the Municipalities, this ensures that foreign businesses wishing to sell their products in the UAE must select one of the following approaches:
- Establishing a local presence by incorporating a UAE entity: The UAE Commercial Companies Law requires companies incorporated under such law to have at least 51% of share capital owned by UAE nationals. As a result, any company established in the UAE is required to have one or more UAE partners holding at least 51% of the share capital of the company
- Appointing a local distributor: An international company may choose to appoint an already existing local company to import and distribute its products in the UAE.
Whichever type is more fitting depends on the circumstances. In any case, it is best to seek specialist local advice, such as PRD. We support startups as well as businesses. To know more feel free to contact us, You can also reach us via our WhatsApp # 971 54 582 1012 or send email at info@productregistrationdubai.com.
