Eligible/ineligible product
Eligible
- Beef
- products derived from animals under thirty (30) months of age (UTM) at the time of slaughter
- products derived from animals over thirty (30) months of age (OTM) at the time of slaughter
- Ready-to-Eat (RTE) products
- veal
- bovine offal: tongue, hearts, livers
- Lamb
- Poultry
- chilled or frozen meat
- heat-treated meat products
Ineligible
- Pork
- pork, pork fat or pork products
-
products with any percentage of pork mixed with other meat product
Note
Available information indicates that Dubai and Abu Dhabi are an exception and permit imports of pork meat/pork meat products. The point of entry for these products in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) should be Dubai.
Production controls and inspection requirements
- A certificate in respect of ritual slaughter is required for beef, including veal, lamb and also for poultry meats. The exporter is responsible to make the necessary arrangements with an Islamic organization to obtain certification acceptable to the UAE authorities.
- The certification required should be endorsed by an embassy of the UAE. The exporter is responsible to ensure that this requirement is met to the satisfaction of the UAE authorities.
Imported meat products
- Beef products for export to the UAE, processed in Canada may contain legally imported beef from New Zealand.
- The operator/exporter is responsible for obtaining a declaration from the competent authorities of New Zealand. The competent authorities must declare that the producing establishment of the beef to be exported to Canada is approved by the UAE authorities, and that the beef is eligible for direct export to the UAE. The declaration must be kept on file with the Canadian export certificate.
- In addition to UAE certification requirements on this page, the following certificates and/or documents will be required for export of such meat products to the UAE:
- copy of numbered Halal certificate from New Zealand, which indicates that the meat was exported from New Zealand to a Canadian registered meat establishment (include the establishment number);
- Halal certificate from Canada indicating that the Canadian establishment (include the establishment number) had used meat imported from New Zealand under a Halal certificate from New Zealand (indicate the Halal certificate number).
Labelling, packaging and marking requirements
- All meat items must be identified, in Arabic, as per the species of animal.
- Labels for frozen meat and meat products exported to the UAE must have the production or slaughtering date as well as expiry date whereas chilled meat and meat products must have slaughtering, production as well as expiry dates. The dates are mandatory on inner packages and optional for the outer boxes. However, if the dates are not mentioned in the inner packages but declared on outer packages, the consignment can be released for catering or manufacturing process purposes in Dubai.
- The operator is responsible to ensure that the labelling is in compliance with UAE requirements.
Documentation requirements
Certificate
- Certificate of Inspection Covering Meat Products (CFIA/ACIA 1454)
-
Annex A – Veterinary certificate for meat products derived from cattle
Note
Annex A can be used to export RTE beef products to UAE.
-
Annex B – Veterinary certificate for meat products derived from calves
Note
CFIA will not certify veal derived from grain-fed calves with Annex B.
- Annex C – Veterinary Health Certificate for Export of chilled, frozen and heat treated poultry meat to the United Arab Emirates
Other information
UAE recommends 12 months shelf life for frozen meat and poultry, there is a mandatory expiration period of 120 days for chilled vacuum-packed beef and buffalo meat from the date of slaughter and 7 days for chilled vacuum packed poultry from the date of slaughter; for shelf-life of other meat/poultry products the exporters should consult with importers.