United Arab Emirates - Trade StandardsUAE - Trade Standards

Overview

The UAE established the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) as its sole national standardization body in 2001 under UAE Law No. 28/2001.  ESMA develops, provides and adopts national standards which are prepared by its technical committees at the request of the government, industry, and consumers.  It is important for U.S. industry through associations and individual companies to proactive engage ESMA as it develops and implements new standards. 

In general, standards developed by ESMA should reference existing international and regional standards, the latter defined as GCC/Gulf Standards Organization.  Drafts are circulated to relevant bodies for comments.  There is no central body that coordinates preparation of technical regulations in the UAE.  These may be developed by ESMA, initially in the form of a standard and then made mandatory or may be devised directly by a Ministry; all technical regulations are approved by Cabinet decision for legal implementation.  ESMA monitors the application of standards and technical regulations and runs the Emirates Conformity Assessment Scheme (ECAS).  This program determines whether imports meet national or international standards for products.  ESMA also runs the Emirates National Accreditation Scheme (ENAS) which accredits conformity assessment bodies and oversees the Emirates Quality Mark (EQM).  The EQM is a mark of conformity that is given after a product review by the Conformity Affairs Department. 

ESMA is an active member in many international and regional authorities and organizations related to the fields of standardization, metrology, conformity and accreditation, such as the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), World Trade Organization (WTO), the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organization (AIDMO), the Standardization Organization for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GSO), the International Organization for Legal Metrology (OIML), and the International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF). 

UAE Minister of Economy Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri, is the ESMA Chairman of the Board, and ESMA reports directly to the UAE cabinet.  ESMA is managed day-to-day by a Director General.  ESMA’s Director General manages the organization, as well as its information center, technical office, and accreditation and technical committees.  The national and emirate level governments, regulatory bodies, and professional associations also review standards requirements.  ESMA provides up-to-date information on standardization and relevant activities and stakeholders at the national, regional and international levels through the information center.  To promote transparency and industry and stakeholder input, ESMA has established technical committees in the fields of food products, construction and building materials, electrical and electronic products, chemical and plastic products, mechanical products, petroleum products and lubricants, metrology, and information technology.  ESMA ensures consumers safety and environmental protection while supporting the UAE economy through the implementation of UAE standards.  ESMA is the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) inquiry point in the UAE, and a part of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s standardization organization, the Gulf Standards Organization (GSO).  ESMA also functions as the National Accreditation Body to accredit testing and calibration laboratories and certification bodies. 

Input to ESMA Standards

Companies and organizations can engage with ESMA on draft standards.  ESMA has told U.S. government representatives that they would like to see even greater engagement by U.S. standards development organizations, and a March 2019 trade mission of U.S. standards development organizations was well received by ESMA.  In general, comments on draft standards notified to the WTO are accepted for 60 days. U.S. standards development organizations may find it advantageous to build relationships with ESMA leadership and its technical committees to ensure their thoughts are considered early in the drafting process.
 
WTO member countries are required to report to the WTO all proposed technical regulations that could affect trade with other Member countries.  American businesses can easily monitor these submissions via “Notify U.S.”, a free, web-based service that offers an opportunity to review and comment on proposed foreign technical regulations. Register online at http://www.nist.gov/notifyus/.

The U.S. government works with ESMA to help ensure adopted standards do not act as technical barriers of trade to U.S. products.  During 2018, the U.S. did not engage in any formal WTO TBT cases with the UAE.  The U.S. Government did submit comments to the UAE on draft regulations via the Inquiry Point and raised occasional questions about draft regulations at WTO TBT Committee meetings. 

Industry concerns related to ESMA and standards in the UAE are reported in the U.S. Trade Representative’s annual “National Trade Estimate”; those concerns can be read on page 501 at https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/2019_National_Trade_Estimate_Report.pdf.

ESMA Organizational Structure

ESMA is headquartered in Abu Dhabi and maintains a branch office in Dubai where its Director General is located.  ESMA has formed four major divisions/departments within its organization, including standards, accreditation, conformity, and metrology.


ESMA Organization Chart (Source: ESMA Website)

Conformity Assessment and Product Certification

ESMA’s conformity assessment department is responsible for implementing UAE regulations according to product certification schemes defined in ISO 17067 as Type Approval and Full Quality Assurance Scheme.  Certificates of Conformity are issued for products that comply with regulations/scheme and National or GSO standards.  Whenever these standards are not available, ESMA uses international or foreign standards suitable to the UAE environmental conditions.  
Emirates Conformity Assessment Scheme (ECAS).

In 2004, the UAE introduced a mandatory regulatory program, the Emirates Conformity Assessment Scheme (ECAS) under which ESMA monitors industry compliance with UAE standards in order for goods (both imported and domestic) to be sold in the country. Initially, ECAS only applied to items such as textiles and building materials. In June 2018, the UAE expanded the scope of ECAS to include agricultural products, such as dairy and juice products. 

ECAS procedures and guidelines explain the steps required for compliance, how certificates of conformity can be obtained, and the requirements related to the self-declaration and registration processes.  ESMA can provide comprehensive details on the scope of products regulated under the ECAS and can be contacted for any clarification concerning regulated products using the customer care email: customercare@esma.gov.ae.  Further information on ECAS can be found at https://www.esma.gov.ae/en-us/Services/Pages/ECAS.aspx.

Accreditation

Emirates National Accreditation System (ENAS)
To assess the conformity of products to relevant standards, the UAE relies on several Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs), or independent bodies that are accredited to perform conformity assessments by ESMA’s Accreditation Department.  ESMA’s Accreditation Department accredits CABs through the Emirates National Accreditation System, ENAS.  Once ESMA determines that CABs can perform specific tasks described in an accreditation scope document they are granted accreditation certifications to execute those tasks.  ESMA accredits testing and calibration labs, inspection bodies, product certification bodies, and more.  Further information about ENAS is available at http://www.enas.gov.ae/en-us/ENAS/Pages/About-ENAS.aspx. 

Starting in February 2019, all medical laboratories operating in the UAE will have to adhere to mandatory new regulations issued by ESMA.  The technical requirements document for the accreditation of medical laboratories were prepared by a qualified technical team in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council[1].

Laboratories

ESMA supervises and manages the scheme in addition to monitoring the laboratories performance to support all the Scheme's requirements.  The approved laboratories are those:

• Accredited by national recognized organizations

• Approved by the authority based on evaluating their capabilities

• Accredited by the national accreditation body

• Other laboratories nominated by the manufacturers

Publication of Technical Regulations

Labeling and Marking 

 

Related Trade Shows and Exhibitions

Web Resources