Cosmetics Labeling Requirements in the UAE: GSO 1943:2024

Two layers decide what a cosmetics label must show in the UAE. The Gulf layer is GSO 1943, the technical regulation for safety requirements of cosmetics and personal care products, whose current fourth edition (GSO 1943:2024) was approved on 1 May 2024 and covers safety, labeling and packaging. The enforcement layer in Dubai is Dubai Municipality: its Technical Guidelines for Cosmetic and Personal Care Products (document DM-HSD-GU116-CPCP2, version 2.1, issued 15 September 2025) lists the exact label components and requires them to be declared in clear English and/or Arabic. The same guideline requires every cosmetic to be registered in the Montaji system before it is manufactured, imported, advertised, sold or distributed in Dubai, and the Health and Safety Department reviews the label inside that registration file. The practical order is: build the label to the guideline checklist, register the product in Montaji, then expect the label to be checked again when the consignment arrives.

GSO 1943 is the Gulf technical regulation for cosmetic products, titled Safety Requirements of Cosmetics and Personal Care Products. The GSO store lists the current edition as Edition 4, GSO 1943:2024, approved on 1 May 2024, classified under ICS 71.100.70 (cosmetics, toiletries) in the chemical and textile sector. Its stated scope covers the general safety requirements and parameters as well as the labeling and packaging requirements that all cosmetics and personal care products must fulfil, with an illustrative product list in Annex 1. Two boundaries matter for importers. First, the store page publishes the scope and metadata only, while the full standard text is purchased, so label work in the UAE is normally built on the Dubai Municipality checklist below plus the purchased edition. Second, do not confuse this regulation with GSO 9:2022, which is the labeling standard for prepacked food, a different product class with different rules. Note also that Dubai's guideline issued in September 2025 still lists the previous GSO 1943:2016 edition in its references, which is why the two documents should be read together. For the certificate layer that sits above product registration, see our GSO conformity guide.

The guideline's Product Label Principles require the following components on a cosmetic label, each declared in clear English and/or Arabic: the brand name; the product name, which a trademark cannot replace; the manufacturer's name, address and web address (of the manufacturer or its agent acting in the UAE); the country of origin, shown clearly, for example in Made in or Packed in wording, to avoid misleading customers; the ingredients, active and inactive, written in INCI names or botanical names; the pack size; the production and expiry dates, applied with non-removable printing or non-removable stickers; the storage conditions, including any special ones; the instructions for use, including the recommended daily dosage where relevant; the product's intended use; a general warning, whether general or specific to the product type or an ingredient; a clear, unique barcode for each product; the batch or lot number; and the applicable symbols: the hour-glass symbol for the best-before-end date, the period-after-opening symbol, the enclosed-leaflet symbol for when conditions of use and warnings cannot all be printed on the packaging, and the dangerous-substances symbols based on the United Nations' Globally Harmonized System where the substance is explosive, oxidizing, flammable, harmful, toxic, irritant, corrosive or hazardous to the environment. Other logos such as eco-label, vegan, certified organic, halal or CE may appear, but each triggers documentation of its own, as the registration section below shows.

Dubai's guideline states the language requirement precisely: the required label components must be declared in clear English and/or Arabic. That wording permits a label in English alone or in Arabic alone, as long as every mandatory element is present and legible, and the guideline's misbranding test separately penalizes any failure to state the required information prominently and conspicuously, so small, hidden or unreadable text is a compliance risk in either language. What the guideline does not do is set a cosmetics-specific language list: there is no rule in this document requiring a full Arabic translation of every element for cosmetics. The wider question of when UAE product labels need Arabic at all draws on rules beyond this cosmetics guideline, and we cover that layer in the general Arabic labeling guide linked here. The practical read for an importer is this: whichever language or languages you print, every element in the list above must be clear, prominent and consistent with the registered dossier, because the label is checked against the file when the product goes through Montaji registration.

The ingredient line has a defined format: active and inactive ingredients in INCI names or botanical names. Behind the label, the registration dossier must go further, with an ingredient report declaring every ingredient in chemical names and CAS numbers by weight, signed and stamped by the manufacturer's R&D department. Claims are where labels fail most often. The guideline prohibits any claims related to the prevention, treatment or curing of any type of disease on labels, brochures, leaflets or advertisements, and it prohibits pictures and illustrations inconsistent with the prevailing social customs and values. Claims are not banned as such: clinical studies issued from recognized bodies in the country of origin must support any specific claims or statistics mentioned on the label, a halal logo makes a halal certificate from a recognized Islamic society mandatory, and organic or vegan certificates are needed where those logos appear. Two special cases show how specific the rules get: professional-use products must carry the wording 'For Professional use only' clearly on the label, and alpha-hydroxy acid products must meet pH limits and print named precautions, such as avoiding contact with the eyes and discontinuing use if irritation persists.

The guideline is explicit that registration comes first: no cosmetic product shall be manufactured, imported, exported, advertised, sold or distributed in Dubai unless it has been registered in the Montaji system. Registration is applied for by the importer, the local manufacturer or the agent, and the applicant must be a company incorporated in Dubai or holding a warehouse in Dubai with a trade license that includes cosmetics-related activities. The product dossier reviewed at this stage includes the Free Sale Certificate from the country of origin, valid at submission; the ingredient report; a GMP certificate under ISO 22716; and a laboratory test report from a certified, accredited laboratory, with the guideline's annex listing the limits, for example a total bacterial count below 1,000 CFU per gram (100 for baby products) and absent pathogens. A granted registration is valid for five years and reviewed at renewal, and any subsequent amendment in the registration particulars must be notified or approved by the Registration and Permits Section, which is what keeps the label and the file in sync. The consignment itself faces the customs and border check on arrival; the import sequence around that check is covered in our cosmetics import guide.

Be careful with fine numbers circulated by agents and blogs: the Dubai Municipality guideline itself does not publish a fine schedule. What it states is the enforcement route, not amounts: individuals who contravene the provisions of the guideline and regulations will be charged as violated by Local Order No. 11 of 2003 on public health and safety in the Emirate of Dubai, the same local order the guideline cites as its basis for regulating the manufacture, sale and importation of cosmetics. The document also defines misbranding, under which a cosmetic is deemed misbranded for false or misleading labeling, for failure to state prominently and conspicuously any information required, or for a misleading container presentation or fill. The practical consequences follow from the registration rule rather than a published tariff: a product that is not registered in Montaji cannot lawfully be imported, sold or distributed in Dubai, and a label carrying a medical claim or missing a mandatory element gives the authority grounds to act under the local order. If you need a specific penalty amount for a specific violation, that is a question for Dubai Municipality directly, not for this guideline.

A label fix follows the structure of the rule, in this order. First, audit the artwork against the guideline's component list, element by element: product name, manufacturer details, country of origin, ingredients in INCI or botanical names, pack size, dates, storage conditions, instructions for use, intended use, warning, barcode, batch number and the applicable symbols, and record which elements are missing, unreadable or inconsistent with the registered dossier. Second, fix the permanent elements: production and expiry dates must be non-removable printing or stickers, the barcode unique to the product, and the batch number clearly indicated. Third, remove what must not be there: medical claims, illustrations inconsistent with prevailing social customs and values, and any claim you cannot support with clinical studies from recognized bodies. Fourth, align the label with the file: any amendment in the registration particulars must be notified or approved by Dubai Municipality's Registration and Permits Section, so artwork changes go through Montaji rather than straight to print, and remember the special wording where it applies, such as 'For Professional use only'. Do this before shipping, because the border check is the point where a defective label stops being a print job and becomes a stopped consignment.

The order of operations for a compliant cosmetics label in the UAE is registration before printing and printing before shipping: build the label to the Dubai Municipality component list, prepare the dossier behind it (Free Sale Certificate, ingredient report, GMP ISO 22716 certificate, laboratory report), register the product in Montaji, and only then commit the artwork to packaging. If you want the registration handled end to end, our Montaji product registration service prepares the dossier, files it with Dubai Municipality and keeps amendments in step with the label. For the surrounding layers, read our guide to Montaji registration requirements and documents for the full paperwork list, our GSO certificate of conformity guide for the certificate layer above product registration, and the Arabic labeling requirements guide for when Arabic is required on UAE product labels in general.