Abu Dhabi QCC Outlines UAE Food and Beverage Regulatory Framework and Compliance

In an interview published by DairyNews, Dr. Simon Miller of the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council (QCC) detailed the processes guiding food and beverage regulation in the UAE. The QCC represents the Abu Dhabi Government in developing quality infrastructure, encompassing standards, conformity assessment, metrology, and market surveillance, alongside operating official testing laboratories for food safety, water, pharmaceuticals, and construction materials.

Dr. Miller stated that because the UAE imports between 85% and 90% of its food consumption, regulators primarily take an outside-in approach to standards. The council reviews rules in exporting nations to adapt them locally without imposing sudden barriers that could disrupt supply chains, particularly following recent regional maritime transit pressures.

Addressing packaging and labeling, Dr. Miller noted that an earlier 2019 mandatory traffic-light nutritional label was withdrawn within two days due to industry unpreparedness and import disruption risks. Subsequently, Abu Dhabi developed the Nutri-Mark front-of-pack nutritional label, which was adopted as a federal standard by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology last October, while the Ministry of Health and Prevention adopted product reformulation targets across sugar, salt, and fat.

On taxation and health claims, Dr. Miller explained that the UAE's tiered sugar tax—structured similarly to the United Kingdom's model—allowed compliant beverage manufacturers to reduce their tax exposure. Regarding on-pack marketing, the UAE federal standard directly benchmarks European Union and United States rules, barring health or nutritional claims unless they are already approved by those authorities.

Dr. Miller added that extended producer responsibility rules are advancing across the UAE, though packaging manufacturers maintain that achieving recycled-content targets will require government investment and subsidies for local recycling infrastructure.