Halal, Kosher and National Standards in the GCC
Halal opens the market and national certification makes the product legal. Neither substitutes for the other, and customs checks both.
United Arab Emirates
ECAS certificate and Emirates Quality Mark
A few facts
An ECAS certificate runs a year; the EQM licence runs three
Both come from MoIAT, on different terms. The certificate follows the product and its named applicant; the licence also follows the factory.
- 1 year Validity of an ECAS certificate, issued per product to a UAE-registered applicant
- 3 years Term of an Emirates Quality Mark licence, with surveillance every year
- 3–8 Weeks for ECAS where CB scheme or other ISO/IEC 17025 test reports already exist
- 2017 Year of Cabinet Resolution No. 10 on hazardous substances, the UAE RoHS
Source: MoIAT and the MOIAT Conformity Hub (ECAS and EQM)
What it costs
See what each package includesECAS in three packages, priced
Express
ECAS RoHS onlyfrom $2,380
- Most popular
Turnkey
Full ECAS certificate of conformityfrom $2,000
Maximum
ECAS, Emirates Quality Mark and supportCustomized
How it works
Five steps from an inquiry to a registered certificate
You send the request
Product name, HS code and technical data, enough for us to scope the route.
Your part
We confirm the route
A specialist confirms the regulations that apply and the document type your product needs.
Our part
Documents and contract
You send the supporting documents; we sign a contract with fixed scope and timeline.
Both sides
Testing and inspection
Laboratory testing, factory inspection and customs clearance, coordinated by us.
Our partYou receive the certificate
Issued, registered, and delivered. We close the project.
Your part
- One named specialist One person owns your file from the first email to the registered certificate.
- Route fixed before testing Scheme, standard and laboratory are settled before a sample is tested, which is where most re-testing starts.
- Registered documents Certificates and declarations issued by accredited bodies and entered in the official register, where customs can look them up.
- Measured by the document The engagement ends when the certificate is issued and registered, whatever the hours took.
The short answer
Where ECAS stops and the Emirates Quality Mark begins
An ECAS certificate is the certificate of conformity MoIAT issues under the Emirates Conformity Assessment Scheme. An ECAS certificate is the certificate of conformity issued under the Emirates Conformity Assessment Scheme, run by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT), for products in a UAE regulated group: low-voltage electrical equipment, energy-labelled appliances, toys, cosmetics, detergents, textiles, tyres and lubricants, each governed by its own Cabinet resolution. It is issued per product to a UAE-registered applicant, in most cases the importer, and runs for one year. The Emirates Quality Mark (EQM) is a separate MoIAT licence that adds a factory audit, lasts three years with annual surveillance, and is voluntary except where a resolution makes it mandatory, as for bottled drinking water.
- Regulated groups only Low-voltage electrical equipment, energy-labelled appliances, toys, cosmetics, detergents, textiles, tyres and lubricants, each governed by its own Cabinet resolution.
- Per product, for one year It is issued per product to a UAE-registered applicant, in most cases the importer, and runs for one year.
- EQM adds the factory The Emirates Quality Mark is a separate MoIAT licence that adds a factory audit. It lasts three years, with surveillance every year.
- Voluntary unless required EQM is voluntary except where a resolution makes it mandatory, as it does for bottled drinking water.
The ECAS certificate
MoIAT issues it per product under the Cabinet resolution for the group, such as No. 10 of 2017 on hazardous substances. It names a UAE-registered applicant and runs for one year.
Customs matches that name to the consignee, so a second distributor needs a second certificate.
What EQM adds
EQM audits the factory and its quality system against ISO 9001 and lets the mark go on the product. The licence lasts three years with annual surveillance and never replaces ECAS.
Apply when a tender lists the mark or a resolution requires it, as for bottled water.
Outside both schemes
A transmitter brings TDRA type approval through a registered UAE dealer, which WWBridge does not provide. Halal comes from a body registered with MoIAT, and appliances and toys add the G-Mark.
We flag the radio side at scope analysis so the importer can start TDRA in parallel.
Already started elsewhere
Is your ECAS or EQM file stuck with another consultant?
A certificate raised by one distributor does not clear a container consigned to another, and that mismatch is where ECAS files stop at customs. Some products sit outside every Cabinet resolution, and MoIAT will not issue a certificate for them. Other files went in as EQM alone, as if the mark covered the regulated group, and the product still needs its ECAS certificate before it can be sold.
An issued ECAS certificate names its UAE-registered applicant and runs for one year. It clears shipments consigned to that applicant; a second distributor needs a certificate of its own. An EQM licence lasts three years, with surveillance every year. For electrical goods the evidence is test reports from an ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory, in most cases a CB scheme report, and where those reports already exist the ECAS timeline is three to eight weeks.
What we handle
- Scope analysis
- Testing
- ECAS and EQM application
- Halal
What to send us
Everything here is something to find before the project starts. The first reply says which of it can go into the file as it is.
- The technical file and CB scheme or ISO/IEC 17025 test reports
- For cosmetics, the formulation and the safety assessment
- The importer’s details
- The ECAS certificate number and the UAE-registered applicant named on it
- Your distribution agreement, so we can match the consignee to the certificate
- For EQM, your ISO 9001 certificate and any findings from a factory audit
- 2010 Year of foundation
- 1300+ Certification projects
- 40+ Countries served
- 15+ Types of certificates
The people on your file
Meet the teamYou will know the person who handles your certificate.
One specialist owns your file from the first email to the registered certificate. Every one of them has recorded a briefing on their field.
Services
What we do on this route
Each stage is a service of its own, with a page that says what it produces and what it needs from you.
Route assessment
The cheapest stage decides the cost of every stage after it. What a route assessment names, and the four decisions it locks down.
Read the pageProduct testing
Accreditation is per standard and per laboratory, never general. How to choose one the destination accepts, and test once for several markets.
Read the pageTechnical documentation
The file is the certificate’s foundation and it is the manufacturer’s to produce. What it has to contain, and what cannot be written retrospectively.
Read the pageAudit & training
Audits turn a schedule from weeks into months and cannot be compressed. What auditors check, and how to be ready for the first visit.
Read the pageAuthorised representative
Four major markets refuse to certify a foreign manufacturer directly. What the appointment obliges, and why a distributor is the wrong holder.
Read the pageMarking & labelling
A correct certificate and a wrong label still stops at the border. What each market demands on the artwork, and when to check it.
Read the page
Which products need an ECAS certificate?
Only products in a group that a UAE Cabinet resolution has placed under a control scheme. The groups exporters meet most often: low-voltage electrical equipment and household appliances, tested to the UAE.S IEC 60335 series; appliances under the energy-efficiency labelling programme (air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, lighting); electrical and electronic devices within Cabinet Resolution No. 10 of 2017 on hazardous substances (the UAE RoHS); toys, assessed to the GSO EN 71 series; cosmetics and personal-care products to UAE.S GSO 1943; detergents under Cabinet Resolution No. 96 of 2024; textiles under Cabinet Resolution No. 54 of 2019; tyres; and lubricants.
Each scheme names its own standards and its own evidence. For electrical goods that means test reports from an ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory, in most cases a CB scheme report; for cosmetics it means the formulation, a safety assessment and the label against GSO 1943. A product outside every resolution needs no certificate, and MoIAT will not issue one for it.
What exporters search for as "ECAS certification UAE" is this certificate. It is issued to a UAE-registered applicant and names the product, the standard and that applicant. A manufacturer supplying two UAE distributors ends up with two certificates. Customs asks for the certificate at clearance, and the applicant named on it has to be the party importing, so a certificate held by one distributor does not clear a container consigned to another.
What does the Emirates Quality Mark add?
A factory. EQM assesses the product against the same standards as ECAS and then audits the manufacturing site and its quality management system, with ISO 9001 as the reference. The licence lasts three years, surveillance follows every year, and the mark goes on the product itself. ECAS ends at the certificate.
EQM is voluntary for most groups and mandatory where a Cabinet resolution says so; bottled drinking water and natural mineral water are the clearest case. Where it is voluntary the reason to apply is a tender: government procurement specifications in the UAE often list the mark as a condition. EQM does not replace ECAS. A product in a regulated group still needs its ECAS certificate whether or not it carries the mark.
Does ECAS cover radio, halal and the Gulf mark?
No. Any product with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a cellular modem or another transmitter also needs type approval from the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), registered to a UAE dealer. It is a separate filing with its own dealer registration, and it is outside what WWBridge provides. Scope analysis identifies it early so the importer can arrange the filing in parallel; ECAS never covers the radio side.
Halal is separate as well: food, and cosmetics with animal derivatives, need a certificate from a body registered with MoIAT under the UAE halal control system. Low-voltage appliances and toys additionally fall under the Gulf-wide G-Mark regulations, GSO BD-142004-01 and BD-131704-01, which are assessed by a GSO-notified body. One appliance can need ECAS, G-Mark and TDRA at once, and each is applied for on its own.
Which scheme does what
| Scheme | Issued by | Basis | Mandatory? |
|---|---|---|---|
| ECAS certificate | MoIAT | Per product, one year, named applicant | Yes, for regulated groups |
| Emirates Quality Mark | MoIAT | Per product and factory, three years, annual surveillance | Voluntary; mandatory for bottled water |
| G-Mark | GSO-notified body | Per type, under BD-142004-01 or BD-131704-01 | Yes, for low-voltage equipment and toys |
| TDRA type approval | TDRA | Per model, via a registered UAE dealer | Yes, for anything that transmits |
| Halal | Body registered with MoIAT | Per product and supply chain | Yes, for products in scope |
These are not alternatives. A connected kitchen appliance needs the first, third and fourth rows, and each is a separate application to a different body.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ECAS and EQM?
ECAS is the mandatory scheme for products in a UAE regulated group and ends in a one-year certificate of conformity from MoIAT, tied to the applicant. EQM adds a factory audit against the quality system, lasts three years with annual surveillance, and permits a mark on the product. It is voluntary for most groups and does not replace ECAS.
Is the ECAS certificate tied to the importer?
Yes. The certificate names the UAE-registered applicant, in most cases the importer, and customs matches that name to the consignee. A second distributor needs a second certificate. Write the distribution agreement with this in mind: whoever holds the certificate controls which shipments clear.
Do I need EQM to sell in the UAE?
For most product groups, no. EQM becomes necessary in two cases: a Cabinet resolution makes it mandatory, as for bottled drinking water, or a tender specification lists it. Retail sale of a regulated product needs ECAS alone.
How long does ECAS certification take?
Three to eight weeks where CB scheme or other ISO/IEC 17025 test reports already exist. Where testing comes first, add the laboratory queue. EQM adds the factory audit and its scheduling, and TDRA type approval for radio products is a separate filing that should start at the same time.
Keep reading
On the Emirates and the Gulf
Choosing the Right UAE Certification Without Overpaying
ECAS, EQM, Emirates Halal, GMP and SFDA do different jobs. Five questions that identify which your product needs, and where money gets wasted.
Selling Uncertified Products on Noon or Amazon.ae
Opening a store is easy; UAE product compliance law still applies. Which categories need certification, what happens without it, and the limited exceptions.
Sources
- Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MOIAT) — United Arab Emirates
- MOIAT Conformity Hub (ECAS and EQM) — United Arab Emirates
- Gulf Conformity Mark — GSO
Tell us what you are exporting
Send the product name, HS code and technical data. You get back the applicable route, the document list and a timeline, before any commitment.