Arabic Labeling Requirements for Products in the UAE

Prepackaged food sold in the UAE must carry labels in Arabic only or Arabic and English, and the Arabic requirement covers the data a regulator checks, not just the brand name. Cosmetics and personal care answer to the Gulf regulation GSO 1943:2024, which folds labelling into its scope, and bilingual Arabic and English panels are expected across the GCC; Dubai Municipality guideline GU116 requires every listed label component to be declared in clear English and/or Arabic. The same logic reaches the wider consumer-product shelf: detergents, biocides, health supplements and perfumes. Perfumes carry their own registration track: see the perfume and fragrance registration guide. At the border the check is physical. Guideline GU100 requires label information to be shown clearly and indelibly, on a label that is not easily removable, and products found non-compliant are stopped and not allowed to enter the UAE market. A consignment also needs at least 50% of its shelf life remaining and no less than six months at the time of entry. A label problem therefore stops the shipment at the port, after production costs are already paid.

Three layers stack. First, the Gulf technical regulation GSO 9:2022, Labeling of prepackaged food stuffs, fixes the mandatory particulars for food, and its Arabic edition is the reference language of the standard; UAE implementation guidance then decides the language split, Arabic only or Arabic and English, with a defined list of elements that must appear in Arabic. Second, for cosmetics and personal care, GSO 1943:2024 (fourth edition) is the Gulf technical regulation whose scope explicitly includes labelling and packaging requirements, and Dubai Municipality guideline DM-HSD-GU116-CPCP2 sets out the required label components in clear English and/or Arabic. Third, for consumer products generally, guideline DM-HSD-GU100-CPIE2 governs import and re-export and requires label information that is clear, indelible and not easily removable. The obligation sits with the importer or local manufacturer: GU116 quotes the rule that no cosmetic product shall be manufactured, imported, sold or distributed in Dubai unless it is registered in the Montaji system, under Local Order No. 11 of 2003.

For prepackaged food, UAE guidance lists the elements that must be in Arabic, on the packaging or an affixed label: product and brand names, lot number, production and expiry dates, country of origin, manufacturer name and address, storage and use instructions, net weight in metric units, the ingredients and additives list (including fats and oils), the barcode, the importer or packer name, warnings, and the nutritional declaration. For cosmetics, GU116 requires: brand name; product name (a trademark cannot replace the product name); manufacturer detail including the name and address of the manufacturer or agent acting in the UAE; country of origin stated clearly, such as Made in France; ingredients in INCI or botanical names; pack size; production and expiry dates; storage conditions; instructions for use; intended use; general warnings; a barcode unique to each product; batch number; and, where applicable, the period-after-opening symbol, dangerous-substance symbols and an enclosed-leaflet symbol. Professional-use products must also carry the phrase For Professional use only on the label.

GU116 names two absolute exclusions. Medical claims: any claim related to prevention, treatment or curing of any type of disease must not be presented on labels, brochures, leaflets or advertisements, or in any other way. And illustrations inconsistent with the prevailing social customs and values must not be used. Beyond these, a cosmetic may be deemed misbranded for false or misleading labeling, for failing to state required information prominently, and for misleading container presentation or fill. Claims have their own Gulf regulation: GSO 2528:2024 sets the criteria for allowed claims on cosmetic products, and products carrying unacceptable claims are restricted from the market. In practice, drug-style wording (cures, treats, boosts immunity) risks pushing the product out of cosmetic scope entirely and restarting the file under a stricter regime. The same discipline applies to food: wording that promises a therapeutic effect turns a label problem into a classification problem.

Treat the label as the first document in the registration file and audit it before goods ship, because every item below is fixable at artwork stage and expensive at the port. The checklist: both language panels present and legible; every Arabic element from the food list (or the bilingual panels for cosmetics) printed at readable size, not squeezed onto the back as an afterthought; dates printed by the manufacturer on the original label for food, using non-removable printing or non-removable stickers for cosmetics; weights in metric units; ingredient lists matching the laboratory test report and the manufacturer composition report line by line; importer or packer details in Arabic; a barcode unique to the product; a batch or lot field present; claim wording reviewed against GSO 2528:2024 so nothing reads like a medical claim; and the food date rule built into the production plan, because a sticker applied in Dubai does not satisfy it. For cosmetics specifically, the full sector rulebook is in our GSO 1943 labeling guide.

Two gates, in this order. The first is registration: consumer products for the local market must be registered before importation, and the Montaji file itself includes the product artwork, so the label is assessed by the registrar as part of the application, not after it. GU100 lists product artwork among the documents required for registration, next to the free sale certificate and the composition report, and the full document set is itemised in our Montaji registration requirements guide. The second gate is the port: on arrival the importer files a clearance request (the CPIP reference) and the consignment is brought to Dubai Municipality inspection, where the physical labels are checked for legibility and permanence and the remaining shelf life is measured. The two gates fail for different reasons: a registrar rejects wording and missing elements, an inspector rejects what the factory failed to print. That is why artwork must be final before filing, not improved during clearance. Where this check sits between the importer code and customs release is mapped in our consumer products import guide.

The same failures repeat across files. Dates on stickers applied after production, which the food rule does not accept. The UAE shelf life and expiry labeling guide consolidates the date rules per category. Importer or packer details missing in Arabic. Net weight declared in non-metric units. Storage instructions absent. Ingredient lists that disagree with the test report or the composition report. Artwork where the Arabic panel is a low-quality addition squeezed onto the back. For cosmetics, formulation text that does not match the label is a review trigger under GSO 1943:2024, and a trademark standing in for a product name breaches GU116. Medical or drug-style claims fail under GSO 2528:2024 before the file goes anywhere. Every pattern shares one property: it was visible in the artwork file before a single unit was produced, which is why the pre-shipment check in the previous section costs an internal hour while a port rejection costs a shipment and its shelf life. How these patterns play out inside a full cosmetics file is covered in our cosmetics registration guide.

Start with the label audit, then build the registration file around it, because the artwork is the one document that must reach the factory before production runs. Pair the audit with the right lane: prepackaged food follows the GSO 9 sequence in our GSO 9 food label guide, cosmetics follow the sector checklist above, and the Dubai platform sequence sits in our Montaji guide. And if you would rather have the review done for you, our product registration assistance begins with exactly this document and label audit, then runs filing and follow-up inside the same file.