Food Labeling Requirement Standard amended by UAE Cabinet
The UAE.S 5034:2018 is the standard under which the requirement for food labelling was slated to be implemented. The initial proposal was to get this implemented early January of 2022. Recently the UAE cabinet had amended the requirements to help the food and beverage industry.
Under this standard all pre-packaged food products were required to have the nutritional data labelled as traffic light colours. Basically a colour-coded system for all nutritional information was needed to be provided for all pre-packed foods.
The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology wanted to ensure that the standards did not affect the food and beverages industry adversely in any way and thus, made an extensive study of the subsequent implications of implementing it with participation from the whole foods and beverages sectors including local as well as international companies that operate in UAE. The study results they had resulted them to amend the standards in co-operation with the ministry’s strategic partners from private and public sectors and the National Committee for Food Sector Standards. The amendment to the requirement is that now the requirements are optional whereas earlier they were mandatory.
“This move is in line with the national strategy for industry and advanced technology to create a suitable and attractive business environment for local and international investors in the industrial sector, support the growth of national industries and enhance their regional and global competitiveness. In line with international best practices, the ministry has granted manufacturers the freedom to apply nutritional data specifications for products packaged in traffic light colours optionally.” – Omar Suwaina Al-Suwaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology said.
According to him this move is in line with the Ministry’s goals of energizing and encouraging the food and beverages industrial sector that is crucial for UAE’s food security ecosystem. The undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology also said that the optional implementation might save an estimated amount of 1.4 billion AED. This cost which would have been lost via labels that are already in use or in the company’s storage. Those in-use or stored labels would have gone to waste and the manufacturer would have lost their value which they would have finally gotten back from the consumers. This amendment allowing optional implementation means that the end-user/ consumer would not have to bear these expenses. This was done to ensure smooth operation of manufacturers by reducing logistics issues and diminishing other financial burdens. The amendment will help give UAE products a competitive edge in the local as well as international markets.
Keeping in line with Global Best Practices in the industry, this amendment gives the foods and beverages sector the following benefits:
- Gets rid of any technical hurdles to manufacturing and trade.
- Enhances smooth flow of food products.
- Removes additional costs on food products to be borne by end-users/ customers.
The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology had taken this step to encourage more investment in the food industry. Thus, this is a great news for anyone wanting to form a new business in this priority sector.
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