Import rules · updated 29 September 2026
Importing Brazilian sugar into the UAE: duty, permits and documents.
The UAE is open: white sugar pays 0% customs duty under the GCC common tariff. To import, you need a trade licence that covers importing, the product registered in the federal ZAD system (in Dubai also through Dubai Municipality’s FIRS), a label check before entry, and a government health certificate or certificate of free sale stating the sugar is fit for human consumption. Labels must be in Arabic. Brazil’s sugar trade with the UAE is almost all raw sugar for refining: only 2,084 tonnes of white sugar in 2025.
Brazil’s sugar trade with the UAE
In 2025 Brazil exported 1.73 million tonnes of raw sugar (NCM 1701.14) to the UAE, worth 725.7 million US dollars, and only 2,084 tonnes of white sugar (NCM 1701.99). White sugar from Brazil is a small flow here, which is worth knowing when a seller describes it as routine.
Importing into the UAE? Send your grade, quantity and discharge port. You pay the supplier directly, never me.
Send a requirement →Licence, registration and checks
- A UAE trade licence covering import or general trading.
- The food item registered in ZAD, under the 2018 national scheme for food accreditation and registration. In Dubai, registration can also go through Dubai Municipality’s FIRS.
- A label assessment before entry. First-time items entering Dubai are lab-tested.
- A government health certificate, or a certificate of free sale stating the product is fit for human consumption.
- A halal certificate is needed only if the product claims to be halal; the UAE logo is voluntary for sugar.
Labelling
- Labels follow UAE.S GSO 9:2019 and must be in Arabic. One approved sticker is allowed, applied before export.
- Institutional packs are exempt from Arabic labelling but cannot be sold at retail.
- Solid sugar needs no expiry date, but the production date must be printed on the original pack, not on a sticker.
- The applicable product regulation is GSO CODEX STAN 212:2022, Sugars.
What to confirm before you order
- VAT treatment on import with the Federal Tax Authority (the standard rate is 5%).
- Your discharge port, agreed for each requirement.
Rules on this page were checked against the sources below on 29 September 2026. Duties, levies and permits change, sometimes by decree. Confirm every figure with the UAE’s customs authority before you order. See all countries.
Know your permits and your port? That is everything I need to request a current supplier response.
Send a requirement →Sources
- ComexStat (MDIC), Brazilian exports by NCM 1701.99.00 and 1701.14.00, January–December 2025, via api-comexstat.mdic.gov.br, retrieved 29 Sep 2026
- GCC Unified Customs Tariff (2017 edition, as published by Sharjah Customs): https://www.sharjahcustoms.gov.ae/Files/CustomsAffairs/En/HS%20Code.pdf; World Bank WITS / UNCTAD TRAINS, MFN tariff for HS 170199, UAE, 2023
- USDA FAS GAIN, FAIRS Country Report: United Arab Emirates, TC2023-0012, 13 Nov 2023: https://apps.fas.usda.gov/
- GSO, GSO CODEX STAN 212:2022 Sugars: https://www.gso.org.sa/store/standards/GSO:811341/GSO%20CODEX%20STAN%20212:2022?lang=en
Checked on 29 September 2026. Rules and web pages change; check the source before you rely on a detail.