Halal Certification in the UAE: What New Food and Trading Companies Should Plan For

If you are setting up a company in the UAE to import, trade, produce or serve food — or to sell cosmetics or other products as halal — halal certification is part of your planning, not an afterthought. This guide explains how the UAE system works, who issues certificates, and what to think about while you choose your licence and suppliers.

In short: halal certificates in the UAE are issued by halal certification bodies, which the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) registers. The rules come from Cabinet Decision No. (10) of 2014 and apply to halal products and the systems and services used to produce them. Some products carry extra local approvals — for example, meat and poultry traded in Dubai need certificates from a body approved by Dubai Municipality. ProBiz Setup does not issue halal certificates; we help you set up the company and licences around them.

What is the legal basis for halal certification in the UAE?

The framework is Cabinet Decision No. (10) of 2014 concerning the UAE System for the Control of Halal Products. It applies to all halal products, including the production systems and services associated with them. A halal product is one that does not conflict with Islamic Sharia and meets the technical requirements of the approved UAE standards.

The decision was issued when standards were the responsibility of the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA). ESMA has since been merged into the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, which now runs the UAE halal programme and cites this decision as the legal basis for registering halal certification bodies.

Who issues halal certificates?

• Halal certification bodies issue the certificates. MoIAT registers these bodies; registration is the Ministry's formal recognition of the halal certificates they issue.
• Accreditation: the Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC) accredits halal certification bodies against UAE.S GSO 2055-2:2021 (general requirements for halal certification bodies), and asks applicants for their MoIAT registration approval.
• Product requirements: GSO 2055-1:2015, Halal Products — Part 1: General Requirements, sets the general requirements for halal food at every stage of the halal food chain — receiving, preparation, packaging, labelling, handling, transport, distribution, storage, display and food service.

What does the decision require from businesses?

• An establishment must hold a halal certificate for its final products and raw materials from an approved issuer, unless its supplier has already provided one.
• Suppliers at each stage of the supply chain must provide the halal certificate and supporting results for what they supply, and follow the labelling requirements in the approved standards.
• The UAE halal mark and halal certificates may not be used in breach of the rules, after they expire, or for products they were not issued for.
• Products that do not comply can be recalled, returned to their origin or destroyed at the responsible party's cost, and certificates can be withdrawn.

Meat and poultry: an example of extra approvals

Some activities carry their own approvals on top of the national system. Meydan Free Zone's guidance on meat wholesale in Dubai, for example, says that all meat and poultry products need halal certification from a certification body approved by Dubai Municipality, that imported products must be recorded in the official food registration system, and that Dubai Municipality Food Safety Department approval is required before the licence is issued. Requirements differ by emirate, licensing authority and product, so confirm them for your exact activity before you commit.

What to plan during company setup

• Licence activities: choose activities that match your products — for example food trading, wholesale of meat, a restaurant or cosmetics trading. Banks, municipalities and certification bodies compare your licence with what you actually do. See trade licence in Dubai.
• Mainland or free zone: where you will store, sell and deliver affects which authorities you deal with. See mainland vs free zone.
• Approvals before the licence: some food activities need municipality or food-safety approval before the licence is issued, so build that time into your plan.
• Suppliers: ask for halal certificates up front and check that the issuing body is registered with MoIAT.
• Banking: banks may ask food import and trading companies for supplier contracts, invoices and product details; a consistent file helps. See bank account opening assistance.

Step by step

1. List your products and markets. Write down exactly what you will sell, import, produce or serve, and which products will be presented as halal.
2. Choose the licence and jurisdiction. Pick licence activities that match those products, and check which food-safety approvals the licensing authority needs before it issues the licence.
3. Check your suppliers' certificates. For each halal product or raw material, confirm the certificate is valid and issued by a body registered with MoIAT.
4. Approach a registered certification body. If your own products, premises or processes need certification, contact a registered body early and ask for its requirements and timeline.
5. Keep it current. Track certificate expiry dates, keep supplier certificates on file and use any halal mark only for the products it covers.

Sources: Cabinet Decision No. (10) of 2014 concerning the UAE System for the Control of Halal Products (text of the decision); Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, service "Registration of Halal Certification Bodies" (moiat.gov.ae); Emirates International Accreditation Centre, "Halal Conformity Assessment Bodies" (eiac.gov.ae); GSO 2055-1:2015, Halal Products — Part 1: General Requirements (gso.org.sa); Meydan Free Zone, meat wholesale business guidance, updated 10 September 2026 (meydanfz.ae); US International Trade Administration, UAE country commercial guide — trade standards (ESMA merged into MoIAT).

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