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HGA Takeaway: Understanding Regulations & Compliance in the GCC
HGA Takeaway
Understanding Regulations & Compliance in the GCC
Thinking about taking your food or drink brand into the Gulf? From Arabic labelling and ingredients to claims, shelf life and country specific requirements, here are some of the things worth understanding before your products reach the border.
The Gulf can present an exciting opportunity for UK brands, but getting your product onto the market involves much more than finding a distributor and shipping your first order.
We recently joined a webinar on Understanding Regulations & Compliance in the GCC, presented by Dr. Fareeda Ismail, Senior Scientific & Regulatory Affairs Consultant at RAQAM Consultancy DMCC.
The session looked specifically at food and beverage products and covered the regulatory landscape across the Gulf Cooperation Council, including labelling, ingredients, nutrition information, product claims and some of the most common mistakes businesses make when entering the region.
The big takeaway? Don't assume that packaging and formulations created for the UK market can simply be shipped to the GCC unchanged.
For HGA members working across food gifting, confectionery, drinks, edible gifting and other FMCG categories, there was plenty worth knowing. We've pulled together some of the points that stood out to us and what they could mean in practice.
Takeaway 1
The GCC isn't one single set of rules
This is probably one of the most important things to understand from the start.
The GCC Standardization Organization, known as the GSO, works to unify standards and regulations across its members. In many cases, GCC countries follow GSO requirements.
However, individual countries can also apply their own regulations or versions of those standards. That means compliance needs to be considered for the specific country you want to enter, rather than treating the whole GCC as one market.
Some of the key authorities highlighted in the webinar include:
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Food & Drug Authority (SFDA)
United Arab Emirates: Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT)
Qatar: Ministry of Public Health (MOPH)
Oman: Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries Wealth & Water Resources
Kuwait: Public Authority for Food and Nutrition (PAFN)
Bahrain: Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC)
What we'd do
Decide which GCC market you're targeting first, then check the requirements for that country specifically. Don't assume that being compliant in one Gulf market automatically means you're ready for another.
Takeaway 2
Check the product itself, not just the packaging
Compliance starts before you get anywhere near the label.
The webinar highlighted the importance of checking the actual formulation of a food or drink product against the requirements of the market you're entering.
That can include checking:
Whether the formula contains restricted or prohibited ingredients
Whether ingredients meet any product specific regulations
Whether food additives are permitted for that product and market
Whether microbiological criteria and contaminant limits are met
This is particularly important for brands with more complex recipes. A product that is perfectly acceptable for sale in the UK isn't automatically compliant somewhere else.
Takeaway 3
Arabic labelling isn't optional
If you're used to creating beautiful packaging for the UK Home & Gift market, this is something to factor into your designs early.
Labels must be in Arabic. Other languages can appear alongside Arabic, so bilingual packaging is possible.
Stickers may also be used, provided they don't cover mandatory information already on the original label.
But here's the important bit
Adding Arabic text isn't enough. It needs to be correct.
Poor translations, mismatches between English and Arabic, or Arabic characters displaying incorrectly can lead to a label being rejected during registration or at the border.
The webinar showed a particularly useful example of packaging that might look perfectly fine to someone who doesn't speak Arabic, but contained incorrect terminology and illegible Arabic. Aside from the compliance risk, it can also make the finished product look poorly prepared to the customer.
Takeaway 4
Your label has a lot of jobs to do
Packaging in Home & Gift often needs to work hard visually, particularly when the product is designed for gifting. But when you're entering the GCC, there is also a significant amount of mandatory information to consider.
The webinar walked through the core labelling elements businesses may need to account for:
| Legal product name | Ingredients | Nutrition information |
| Net contents | Name & address | Country of origin |
| Production & expiry dates | Storage & instructions | Batch code |
| Relevant warnings & claims | ||
The exact requirements need to be checked against the regulations applying to your product and destination market, but the practical lesson is simple: leave compliance space in your packaging design from the beginning.
Takeaway 5
Ingredients need more attention than you might expect
An ingredients list isn't simply a case of translating what's already on your UK packaging.
The webinar highlighted a number of requirements, including listing ingredients in descending order by weight and clearly declaring allergens.
A few details worth knowing
Allergens: Relevant allergens must be clearly declared.
Animal ingredients: The animal source needs to be declared where animal sourced ingredients are used.
Additives: Food additives should be declared by name or recognised identification number alongside their function.
Sweeteners: Where used, their concentration needs to be declared in the ingredients list.
Flavours: The name and type of flavour should be declared.
For businesses producing confectionery, edible gifts, drinks and other products with longer ingredient lists, this is an area worth reviewing carefully before artwork is signed off.
Takeaway 6
Be careful what you claim on pack
Words matter, especially when you're talking about health, nutrition, quality, organic status or halal credentials.
The session explained that health and nutritional claims need to comply with the relevant regulations and be supported by appropriate documentation. Medical claims are banned.
Before it goes on the packaging
Ask whether you can actually substantiate the claim and whether you're allowed to make it in that market.
Claims, symbols, logos or marks relating to things such as halal, organic status or product quality may also require authentication to support their use.
Takeaway 7
Don't overlook the dates
Production and expiry information might seem like one of the simpler parts of packaging, but there are specific rules around how this information is presented.
The webinar explained that production and expiry dates need to appear on the label, with the permitted date format depending on the product's shelf life.
If opening the packaging changes how long the product can be safely used, the label should also explain the relevant time limit after opening.
One particularly useful detail from the session: production and expiry dates cannot simply be added using an additional sticker.
Takeaway 8
Small mistakes can become expensive ones
Some of the most useful parts of the webinar were the examples of things that can go wrong.
Common compliance pitfalls highlighted during the session included:
| Missing or incorrect Arabic Including mismatches between the English and Arabic versions. |
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| Poor technical translation A direct translation isn't always the correct regulatory terminology. |
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| Missing information Such as incomplete flavour declarations, manufacturer information or country of origin details. |
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| Problematic claims Making claims that aren't permitted, relevant or properly supported. |
The bigger picture
Compliance isn't something to check at the end
By the time your packaging has been printed and products are on their way to market, fixing a compliance problem can become much more complicated and expensive. Build regulatory checks into the process early.
The HGA Takeaway
Thinking about taking your products into the GCC?
1. Decide which country you're targeting and check its specific requirements.
2. Review the formulation as well as the packaging.
3. Plan for accurate Arabic labelling from the beginning.
4. Make sure all mandatory information has somewhere to go on pack.
5. Pay close attention to ingredients, allergens and additives.
6. Check claims and supporting documentation before artwork is approved.
7. Get specialist regulatory support where you need it rather than waiting until there's a problem.
One final thought
Don't let compliance put you off exploring the opportunity
The number of regulations involved can look daunting when they're all presented together, but the point isn't that GCC markets are impossible to enter.
It's that preparation matters. Understanding the requirements early gives you time to make changes properly, protect the work you've already put into your product and approach a new market with much more confidence.
This HGA Takeaway is based on the webinar "Understanding Regulations & Compliance in the GCC", presented by Dr. Fareeda Ismail, Senior Scientific & Regulatory Affairs Consultant at RAQAM Consultancy DMCC. Regulations can change and requirements vary by product and market, so businesses should check the latest applicable requirements and seek specialist advice where appropriate.
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