United Arab Emirates: the gateway for premium nuts into the Gulf (GCC)

In 2025 the United Arab Emirates imported USD 1.236 billion in tree nuts, the country's fifth-largest consumer food category, ahead of bakery, food preparations and chocolate. It did so with a population of 11.5 million. The arithmetic does not add up for a simple reason: a substantial share of that volume does not stay in the country.

The UAE is not just a market. It is the operational point of entry to the Gulf Cooperation Council —Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the Emirates themselves— and a re-export platform towards the Indian subcontinent, East Africa and the Levant. For an exporter of walnuts, pecans or almonds from the southern hemisphere, understanding that hinge function matters more than understanding Emirati domestic consumption.

This guide covers what a B2B buyer or seller needs to know in practice: the real size and composition of demand, the GCC tariff structure and its traps, the regulatory registration and labelling process (which is where most first-time shipments are rejected), the comparison of aflatoxin limits between the EU and the Gulf, and the current state of a shipping route that in 2026 stopped being routine.

1. The real size and shape of demand

According to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Exporter Guide Annual for the UAE (report TC2026-0007, published 3 July 2026), the UAE imported more than USD 27.6 billion in agricultural and related products in 2025, 8% more than in 2024. Of that figure, USD 17.7 billion corresponded to consumer-oriented products.

The UAE's top ten consumer imports, 2025

Category	2025 value (USD)	Leading supplier	Second supplier
Dairy	2,373 M	EU-27 (31%)	New Zealand (24%)
Fresh fruit	1,432 M	South Africa (29%)	India (11%)
Poultry meat	1,411 M	Brazil (67%)	Saudi Arabia (8%)
Beef	1,245 M	India (34%)	Brazil (21%)
Tree nuts	1,236 M	USA (52%)	China (18%)
Bakery, cereals and pasta	937 M	EU-27 (27%)	Saudi Arabia (24%)
Soups and preparations	902 M	EU-27 (30%)	USA (12%)
Chocolate and cocoa	822 M	EU-27 (52%)	Singapore (6%)
Spices	676 M	India (53%)	Guatemala (13%)
Fresh vegetables	524 M	China (29%)	India (25%)

Source: USDA FAS, Exporter Guide Annual UAE (TC2026-0007), Trade Data Monitor data.

Three commercial readings of this table:

First: origin concentration is high, and that is an opportunity. The United States controls 52% of the tree nut market and China 18%. That leaves roughly 30% shared among all other origins. A southern hemisphere origin does not compete to displace California; it competes to occupy calendar windows and to offer risk diversification to buyers who discovered, in 2026, how expensive it is to depend on a single route.

Second: tree nuts are the only category in the top 10 where the United States is the leading supplier. This is a market where quality and traceability are already paid for. It is not a pure commodity market.

Third: close to 80% of the agricultural products consumed in the UAE are imported, according to the same report. The structural dependence is not cyclical: it is geography.

The four buying channels

The Emirati tree nut buyer is not a single profile. There are four profiles with different requirements:

Processing industry. More than 570 food and beverage processors operate in the UAE and produce 5.96 million tonnes a year, with heavy dependence on imported ingredients. Dubai hosts, among other facilities, a walnut cracking line with a capacity of 17,000 tonnes per year, according to the USDA FAS Food Processing Ingredients Annual. This channel buys in-shell and bulk kernel, in FCL, and values size consistency and yield above presentation.
HORECA and catering. The food service sector turned over around USD 18.5 billion in 2025 across 17,751 outlets. Tourism hit records: more than 32 million hotel guests nationally and close to 20 million international overnight visitors in Dubai alone.
Retail. The food retail market moved around USD 20 billion in 2025. Hypermarkets still dominate, but the discount segment grew more than 24% that year, and food e-commerce reached USD 1.3 billion.
Re-export. The channel invisible in consumption statistics, and the most relevant one for a trader.

2. How the hub actually works: the mechanics of GCC re-export

Here is the part explained badly in almost all available commercial literature, and where margins are lost.

The customs union and the single point of entry

The UAE is a founding member of the GCC and applies the GCC Unified Customs Law and Common Customs Tariff, in force since January 2003. The relevant operating principle is the single point of entry: customs duties are collected once, at the first point of entry into the customs union, and the goods then circulate freely among the six member states.

But there is a condition that rarely appears in promotional materials. The USDA FAS states it precisely in its FAIRS Annual Country Report for the UAE: in practice, the duty-free transit policy applies only to unopened containers transhipped between GCC markets. Repacked, partial or partially unloaded shipments may incur an additional 5% import duty on reaching their final destination within the GCC.

The operational implication is direct and has consequences for margin:

If your operation consists of bringing an FCL into Jebel Ali, breaking it down in a warehouse and dispatching pallets to Riyadh, Doha and Kuwait, you are paying duty twice. If you consolidate by destination at origin and dispatch full unopened containers, you pay once.

This changes the design of the shipment. For volumes that justify an FCL per destination, the direct route or transhipment without opening is structurally cheaper. For volumes that require breaking bulk, the cost of the hub must be built into the price, not discovered afterwards.

Free zones: the other route

Free zones —Jafza (Jebel Ali Free Zone) is the reference for food— allow goods to be stored under customs suspension. While the product remains in the free zone no duties accrue; if it leaves for a third country, they never accrue; if it enters the national market or the GCC, it is cleared at that moment.

For a trader managing regional stock with outbound flows to Saudi Arabia, India or East Africa, the free zone is the correct structure. For an exporter selling FCL direct to an Emirati importer, it is an unnecessary cost.

Tariffs and taxation

The GCC common external tariff is 5% ad valorem on CIF value for most goods. In food, the USDA FAS notes that most food products entering a GCC country from outside the bloc are either duty-exempt or taxed at 5%, with an annex of 417 duty-exempt subheadings. Alcohol is taxed at 50% and tobacco at 100%.

On top of this there is a 5% VAT, in force since January 2018, applicable to most goods and services, including food.

Always verify the specific subheading. Since January 2025 all GCC states have adopted the 12-digit tariff system based on HS 2022. Misclassifying in-shell walnuts (0802.31) versus shelled walnuts (0802.32) can change the treatment and, in any case, creates exposure to penalties.

The CEPA network: a concrete advantage for Chile

In four years the UAE has built the most aggressive network of bilateral agreements of any mid-sized economy. As of January 2026 it had concluded 32 Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPA), of which 14 were in force.

Two are directly relevant to South American origin:

UAE–Chile. Signed on 29 July 2024, it entered into force on 24 November 2025. It eliminates 99.5% of duties on Emirati imports from Chile. It is Chile's first free trade agreement with a Gulf country. Bilateral non-oil trade grew 45.6% during 2025 to USD 392.6 million.

UAE–Mercosur. Negotiations began in 2024 and as of July 2026 remain unconcluded, despite ministerial statements that the process was at an advanced stage. UAE–Mercosur non-oil trade reached USD 6.2 billion in 2025.

The consequence for anyone supplying from the Southern Cone is concrete: today, walnuts of Chilean origin enter the UAE with preferential tariff treatment that Argentine walnuts do not have. In a product where gross margin is measured in points, a 5% duty is a difference that decides the deal.

That said, two necessary caveats: CEPA tariff-elimination schedules are product-specific and the particular subheading must be verified; and preferential access requires compliance with rules of origin and the presentation of a certificate of origin conforming to the agreement, not a generic certificate.

If you want to understand how an analogous tariff advantage is structured at the other end of the operation, see our analysis of the EU–Mercosur agreement and its impact on tree nut tariffs.

3. The 2026 problem: the route is no longer routine

Any article about the UAE as a gateway to the Gulf that does not address the Strait of Hormuz is out of date. This is the situation as at 31 July 2026.

What happened

Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been largely blocked since 28 February 2026, following the start of open conflict between Iran and the United States–Israel coalition. A memorandum of understanding signed on 17 June opened a window for reopening, but a second escalation cycle beginning in early July reversed the normalisation.

The impact on Emirati infrastructure was severe. According to sector reports, activity at Jebel Ali fell by between 90% and 95% during the worst of the disruption. Jebel Ali is —or was, before the crisis— the largest and busiest port in the Middle East and the tenth in the world by container traffic, according to the USDA FAS.

The USDA itself describes the knock-on effect: affected shipping routes, higher freight rates, higher insurance premiums, temporary rerouting of cargo through alternative corridors and pressure on regional re-export flows. Its forecast —explicitly flagged as a Post estimate based on historical data— is that if current conditions persist, total UAE agricultural imports could fall from USD 27.6 billion in 2025 to around USD 6.5 billion in 2026.

That figure should be taken for what it is: a scenario projection, not consolidated data. But the direction of travel is not in dispute.

The geography that solves the problem

Here is the fact most exporters have not internalised, and which is worth money:

Khor Fakkan and Fujairah are on the Gulf of Oman coast, outside the Strait of Hormuz. A container arriving from South America, Africa or Asia can discharge there without ever transiting the strait, and continue by road to Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Saudi Arabia.

The road distance between Fujairah and Dubai is approximately 160 kilometres. It is a three-to-four-hour journey, with customs corridors already established.

The east coast port system has absorbed the diversion with difficulty, but it has absorbed it:

Khor Fakkan (Sharjah, operated by Gulftainer) went from around 8,000 weekly container moves before the conflict to peaks of 65,000. Gulftainer announced an investment of USD 2 billion to expand capacity from 3.5 to 10 million TEU over 36 months, plus two customs dry ports in Sharjah (Al Dhaid and Sajaa) which would add 2.3 million TEU of inland logistics capacity.
Fujairah. On 22 July 2026, DP World reached an agreement in principle with the Fujairah Port Authority for a 50-year concession over two deep-water terminals —Al Rugaylat and Dibba—, entirely outside the strait. As reported by the Financial Times and trade media, the new capacity would be connected by inland logistics network to Jebel Ali and the Jafza free zone.
Green corridor with Oman. Dubai Customs implemented temporary facilitations and a "green corridor" to speed up overland shipments and harmonise cross-border procedures.

None of these alternatives replaces the scale of Jebel Ali in the short term. Khor Fakkan has a theoretical capacity of five million TEU and has never handled more than three; Jebel Ali moved between 15 and 20 million. But for a southern hemisphere tree nut flow —a few hundred FCL a year, not tens of thousands— east coast capacity is more than sufficient.

What this changes in your contract

The disruption is not only a logistics problem: it is a contractual one. Five concrete points:

Name the port of discharge with absolute precision. "CFR United Arab Emirates" is not a delivery term, it is a source of dispute. CFR Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates — Incoterms® 2020 is.
Consider quoting against the east coast rather than Jebel Ali. If the final destination is Dubai or Abu Dhabi, the extra cost of the 160 km road leg is usually lower than the risk premium and transit uncertainty associated with Hormuz.
Define who pays for the road leg. Under CFR or CIF the seller covers costs to the named port of destination; the road journey is the buyer's unless expressly agreed otherwise. A DAP to the warehouse shifts that management to the seller.
Review war risk cover. Standard marine transport policies exclude war risk unless specifically extended, and premiums in the area have risen significantly. Under CIF, the compulsory minimum cover is ICC-C, which does not cover this scenario.
Force majeure and deviation clauses. Define in advance what happens if the carrier diverts the vessel, who bears the additional costs and how the delivery deadline is recalculated.

The first three points depend on understanding the allocation of costs and risks between commercial terms. If you are unsure which Incoterm suits each structure, we break it down in detail in FOB, CIF or CFR: an Incoterms guide for food importers.

4. The regulatory framework: where shipments get rejected

Emirati food regulation has a reputation for being transparent, and it is. The USDA describes it as "transparent and not complex" among the market's advantages. But it also lists, among the disadvantages, "specialised labelling and restrictive shelf life requirements".

Both are true. The system is predictable; it simply demands that things be done before shipping, not after.

Who regulates what

Food standards are developed within the framework of the GSO (Gulf Standardization Organization) and adopted by ministerial decree in each member state. Within the UAE:

MOCCAE (Ministry of Climate Change and Environment): food safety, plant quarantine, import of primary agricultural products. WTO SPS enquiry point.
MOIAT (Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology): standardisation body. WTO TBT enquiry point.
Municipalities (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, etc.): administer the import process —port inspection, testing, label approval and release of the shipment.

Mandatory prior registration: ZAD, FIRS and ZADI

Since 2018 the "National Food Accreditation and Registration Scheme" has been in force, its electronic portal known as ZAD. Every food product must be registered before it can be sold in the UAE. Registration and label assessment are processed through three routes depending on the emirate of entry:

Portal	Scope	Administered by
ZAD	Federal — covers all seven emirates	MOCCAE
FIRS (Food Import and Re-export System)	Dubai	Dubai Municipality
ZADI	Dubai — integrated import services platform	Dubai Municipality

Four rules that frequently cause rejections:

Each pack format is a separate product. A 100 g pack and a 200 g pack of the same product are registered separately.
Any label modification requires reassessment. Changes of packaging, weight, label or barcode require a new assessment.
Dubai requires label approval even for consignments destined for re-export, not only for local consumption.
First registration entails laboratory testing. Products registered for the first time for import into Dubai go through the Municipality's Central Laboratory. Results can take up to five working days depending on the type of test. If an ingredient or additive not declared on the label is detected, the product is rejected.

Labelling: standard UAE.S GSO 9:2019

The applicable standard is UAE.S GSO 9:2019 "Labeling of Prepackaged Food Stuffs", and it applies to both bulk product and retail packaging.

Mandatory minimum label content:

Product name in a prominent position
Ingredients in descending order of proportion
Nutritional declaration (UAE.S GSO 2233:2021)
Net weight (metric system)
Name and address of the manufacturer or packer
Country of origin
Production and expiry dates
Special storage conditions
Instructions for use
Production batch number, indelibly marked
Label in Arabic; if other languages are used, the information must be identical

The critical point —and the most common and most expensive cause of rejection— is this:

Production and expiry dates must be engraved, stamped, printed or marked directly on the original label or primary packaging with indelible ink. Dates printed only on the sticker are not accepted.

Arabic stickers are permitted, but under strict conditions: they must be approved in advance during the label assessment, there must be a single sticker, it must be applied before export —it cannot be done on arrival—, it cannot conceal mandatory information, it cannot contain statements diverging from the original label, and it cannot come off easily once applied.

Date format:

DD/MM/YYYY for products with a shelf life of three months or less
DD/MM/YYYY or MM/YYYY for shelf life longer than three months (with the MM/YYYY format, the expiry date is taken as the last day of the month indicated)

The institutional use exemption

A little-known detail that is commercially very relevant for anyone selling to industry and HORECA:

Products intended for institutional use are accepted without the need for Arabic translation on the label. The trade-off is that they cannot be sold at retail unless an Arabic label is provided.

For an exporter selling bulk walnut kernel in 10 or 25 kg cartons to a processing plant or a food service operator, this removes much of the labelling friction. For anyone targeting retail, there is no shortcut.

Shelf life

Shelf life is regulated by UAE.S 150-1:2017 "Expiration Dates for Food Products – Part 1: Mandatory Expiration Dates" (and Part 2, on voluntary dates, for products not covered). It is a standard requiring product-by-product review: the declared periods must fit within the permitted ranges, and a declared shelf life longer than allowed blocks label approval.

For in-shell walnuts and kernel, the declared shelf life must be realistic given the storage conditions indicated. Declaring 12 months at ambient temperature for walnut kernel in a Gulf climate is a promise the product does not always keep, and the risk of oxidative rancidity falls on the supplier's reputation.

Halal: what applies and what does not

Tree nuts are a plant product and do not require halal certification by their nature. That said:

If the packaging declares halal, the supplier must provide a certificate from an approved certification body and use the UAE national halal logo. No other halal mark is accepted in the country.
The chain must be free of cross-contamination with pork and alcohol, which in practice translates into segregation requirements in plant and warehouse, and the declaration of the origin of any animal-derived ingredient.
For products made with tree nuts that incorporate animal-derived ingredients (dairy, gelatines, emulsifiers), the halal regime is fully triggered.

5. Aflatoxins: why EU-specification product enters without friction

This is the most useful section for an exporter already supplying Europe, and it contains a commercial argument that is rarely exploited.

The limits, side by side

Framework	Product	AFB1	Total aflatoxins
EU — Regulation (EU) 2023/915	Other tree nuts (incl. walnuts) subject to prior sorting	5.0 µg/kg	10.0 µg/kg
EU — Regulation (EU) 2023/915	Other tree nuts for direct consumption or as an ingredient	2.0 µg/kg	4.0 µg/kg
UAE/GCC — UAE.S GSO 841:1997	Grains, nuts, oilseeds and their products	—	20 µg/kg
UAE/GCC — UAE.S GSO CAC 193:2021	Pistachio (ready to eat and for processing)	—	10 µg/kg
UAE/GCC — UAE.S GSO CAC 193:2021	Ready-to-eat tree nuts, peanuts, mixes	—	15 µg/kg

Sources: EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2023/915; USDA FAS FAIRS Country Report UAE (list of technical regulations in force on contaminants); Osaili et al., "Occurrence of aflatoxins in nuts and peanut butter imported to UAE", Heliyon (2023).

The operational conclusion is direct: a walnut lot built, tested and documented against the European limit of 4.0 µg/kg total aflatoxins has a compliance margin of between 2.5 and 5 times against the Gulf limit. The reverse does not hold. A lot meeting the GCC standard can be rejected at the European border with no room for discussion.

This turns European analytical documentation into a commercial asset in the Gulf, not merely a compliance cost. A certificate of analysis from an accredited laboratory against the EU threshold is a selling point with an Emirati importer who re-exports to markets with varying requirements, and a real reduction in their downstream rejection risk.

Two honest methodological caveats:

GSO 841:1997 and GSO CAC 193:2021 coexist in the list of technical regulations on contaminants that the USDA records for the UAE. The operative limit applicable to a specific consignment must be confirmed with the importer and the municipality of entry, not assumed from the older standard.
The limits refer to the edible part. For in-shell walnuts, the calculation is made on the kernel.

The field data that changes packaging logistics

Between 2017 and 2021, the Emirati authorities analysed 5,401 samples of tree nuts and derivatives from 57 countries, taken at six warehouses in the ports of Dubai. 91.4% complied with Emirati aflatoxin standards. Among the non-compliant, peanuts were the worst (11.8% non-compliance, with an average of 92.7 µg/kg), followed by pistachio (9.8%).

The most useful finding for an exporter lies in the correlation with packaging:

Tree nuts packed in textile containers (jute or burlap sacks) showed the highest average aflatoxin level in the study: 108.1 µg/kg.

Textile packaging breathes, absorbs ambient humidity and offers no barrier against Gulf transit and storage conditions. For premium product destined for the UAE, a carton with an inner barrier or a polypropylene bag with liner is not a presentation luxury: it is documentable microbiological risk control.

If you want the full detail of the European regime on aflatoxins, MRLs and border controls, we cover it in Quality standards for walnut imports into the European Union.

6. The Gulf commercial calendar

The GCC tree nut market has a marked seasonality that does not coincide with the European one.

Ramadan and Eid

The peak in consumption of nuts, dates and dried fruit is concentrated in Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr. Importers typically buy eight to twelve weeks in advance, which means the negotiation and shipping window opens two to three months before the start of the month.

The Hijri calendar moves forward about eleven days each solar year. In 2026 Ramadan fell between mid-February and mid-March; in 2027 it is expected around the beginning of February (subject to lunar observation), and it will continue moving towards January in subsequent years.

Be honest about what this implies for the southern hemisphere. With Ramadan in February, the northern hemisphere harvest (September–November) reaches that window three to five months old; the southern hemisphere harvest (March–May), nine to eleven months old. In the pre-Ramadan window, northern origin competes on freshness and southern origin competes on price, availability and continuity of relationship.

Where the southern hemisphere wins is the rest of the year. Between June and October, the northern hemisphere harvest is eight to twelve months old and the southern two to five. That is the period when processors restock and contract for the Gulf's winter hospitality high season. For a supplier from Argentina and Chile, the right proposition to the Emirati buyer is not "we cover your Ramadan", but "we cover the gap your northern supplier cannot".

Trade fairs

Gulfood is the reference event and, according to the USDA, the largest annual food and beverage trade fair in the world. It has historically been held every February at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The 2027 edition is announced for March 2027, spread for the first time across two venues (DWTC and Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo City). Published dates vary by source: check the organiser's official website before committing to travel or a stand.

Gulf buyers also attend SIAL Paris and ANUGA, which opens a route to contact for exporters already present on the European circuit. On European trade fairs, we wrote up our experience at Alimentaria 2026.

7. Operational checklist: first FCL to the United Arab Emirates

A practical sequence, in order.

Before quoting

Confirm that the importer holds a valid trade licence for food activity in the emirate of entry and has access to ZAD/FIRS/ZADI.
Verify the 12-digit tariff subheading and the applicable duty. If the origin is Chile, verify eligibility under the UAE–Chile CEPA and the certificate of origin requirements.
Define whether the destination is national consumption, the GCC via single point of entry, or re-export to a third country. The answer determines the customs structure and the cost.

Before producing the label

Send the importer the complete label artwork (front, back, proposed Arabic sticker) for assessment in ZAD/FIRS. Do not produce final packaging before approval.
Confirm that the production and expiry dates will be printed with indelible ink on the primary packaging, not on the sticker.
Verify the declared shelf life against UAE.S 150-1:2017.
If the product goes exclusively to industry or food service, assess the Arabic label exemption for institutional use.

Before shipping

Aflatoxin testing at an accredited laboratory, preferably against the EU threshold. Retain a counter-sample.
Phytosanitary certificate from the competent body at origin (SENASA in Argentina, SAG in Chile) and certificate of origin.
Apply the Arabic sticker at origin, as a single approved sticker.
Packaging with an adequate barrier. Avoid textile sacks for premium product.
Confirm the port of discharge in the contract with its exact name and the Incoterms version.
Verify war risk cover in the transport policy.

On arrival

The importer submits the import application in FIRS/ZADI with port details, bill of lading and arrival date.
Inspection and, on first registration, laboratory testing.
Assessment of duties and VAT, and release.

Note on non-compliance. A product that does not meet Emirati regulations but poses no health risk may be re-exported to a third country outside the GCC. A minor non-compliance is usually resolved with a warning and a letter of undertaking. Serious or repeated infringements —incorrect labelling of products containing pork, tampering with production or expiry dates— are escalated to the national food safety committees and can lead to fines or a ban on operating.

8. Conclusion: what the Gulf really buys

The United Arab Emirates is the natural gateway to the Gulf for four structural reasons, and none of them has changed in 2026: the customs union with a single point of entry, logistics infrastructure with no regional equivalent, a network of bilateral trade agreements no neighbour matches, and an 80% import dependence that has no agronomic solution.

What has changed is the route. The Strait of Hormuz has ceased to be a routine transit corridor and has become a decision variable. The Emirati response —Khor Fakkan, Fujairah, land corridors, billions in east coast capacity— indicates that the country is rebuilding its infrastructure on the assumption that these closures will recur, not that they were an isolated episode.

For a southern hemisphere exporter, that opens a conversation that did not exist two years ago. Gulf buyers are reassessing their exposure to single origin and single route. A supplier arriving counter-season, with analytical documentation built against the world's most demanding standard and with the flexibility to discharge on the east coast, is not selling walnuts. They are selling supply chain redundancy, which is exactly what that buyer is purchasing in 2026.

Frequently asked questions

How much does the United Arab Emirates import in tree nuts?

In 2025 the UAE imported USD 1.236 billion in tree nuts, the country's fifth-largest consumer food import category. The United States was the leading supplier with a 52% share and China second with 18%, according to Trade Data Monitor data compiled by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service in its Exporter Guide Annual of July 2026.

What tariff do tree nuts pay on entering the United Arab Emirates?

The UAE applies the GCC common external tariff of 5% ad valorem on CIF value, with an annex of 417 duty-exempt subheadings that includes numerous basic food products. A 5% VAT is added to this. The exact treatment depends on the 12-digit subheading, so it must be verified case by case. Since 24 November 2025, the CEPA between the UAE and Chile eliminates 99.5% of duties on Emirati imports of Chilean origin.

Is halal certification mandatory to export tree nuts to the Emirates?

No. Tree nuts are a plant product and do not require halal certification by their nature. However, if the packaging declares halal, the supplier must provide a certificate from a certification body approved by the Emirati authorities and use exclusively the UAE national halal logo: no other halal mark is accepted in the country. The halal regime is fully triggered for processed products incorporating animal-derived ingredients.

What is the ZAD system and why does it matter?

ZAD is the UAE's federal electronic food registration portal, created in 2018 within the National Food Accreditation and Registration Scheme and administered by MOCCAE. Every food product must be registered before it is sold in the country. In Dubai there are also the FIRS (Food Import and Re-export System) and ZADI portals, administered by the Municipality. Registration includes label assessment, and Dubai requires label approval even for consignments destined for re-export. Each pack format is registered separately, and any subsequent modification requires reassessment.

Are Gulf aflatoxin limits stricter than European ones?

No, they are considerably more permissive. Regulation (EU) 2023/915 sets a limit of 2.0 µg/kg aflatoxin B1 and 4.0 µg/kg total aflatoxins for walnuts destined for direct consumption. GCC references are substantially higher: UAE.S GSO 841:1997 establishes 20 µg/kg total aflatoxins for tree nuts and grains, while UAE.S GSO CAC 193:2021, based on Codex, sets 10 µg/kg for pistachio and 15 µg/kg for ready-to-eat tree nuts. In practice, a lot built to European specification comfortably meets the Gulf standard; the reverse does not hold.

How does the closure of the Strait of Hormuz affect food imports into the Gulf?

Commercial traffic through the strait has been largely blocked since 28 February 2026, with partial and intermittent reopenings. Activity at the port of Jebel Ali fell by between 90% and 95% at the worst of the disruption. Cargo has been redirected towards Khor Fakkan and Fujairah, both located on the Gulf of Oman coast, outside the strait, with a subsequent overland leg of some 160 km to Dubai. Gulftainer and DP World have announced multi-billion investments to expand east coast capacity. For a shipment from South America, discharging at Khor Fakkan or Fujairah makes it possible to avoid transiting the strait entirely.

When is the best time to ship tree nuts to the Gulf?

Peak demand is concentrated in Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, with purchases typically eight to twelve weeks beforehand. The Hijri calendar moves forward about eleven days a year: in 2027 Ramadan is expected around the beginning of February. For southern hemisphere origin, the structurally most advantageous window is not the pre-Ramadan period but June–October, when the northern hemisphere harvest is eight to twelve months old and the South American two to five.

Sources

→ FOB, CIF or CFR: an Incoterms guide for food importers — how to allocate cost and risk when the port of discharge stops being stable
→ Quality standards for walnut imports into the European Union — aflatoxins, MRLs and border controls
→ EU–Mercosur agreement 2026: what is confirmed and what remains open — the Southern Cone's other tariff front
→ The Argentine pecan: the emerging alternative to walnuts for European industry
→ Glossary of trading, quality and product terms

Are you evaluating the Gulf market?

At Raiz Andina we work with Chandler walnuts from Chile —an origin with preferential access to the UAE under the CEPA in force since November 2025—, Chandler walnuts from Argentina, Serr, Howard and Argentine pecans, in FCL volumes with analytical documentation built against European specification.

If you manage sourcing for industry, distribution or re-export in the GCC, let's talk about your next shipment or about wholesale terms.

Raiz Andina is a trading company based in Milan, specialising in connecting South American producers with importers and distributors in Europe and the Middle East. We operate with complete transparency in commercial terms, logistics and documentation.

Disclaimer: This article is informative and educational in nature. It does not constitute legal, customs or regulatory advice. GSO standards, GCC tariffs and registration requirements may change without notice, and their practical application varies by emirate of entry. The logistical situation in the Strait of Hormuz described here reflects information available as at 31 July 2026 and is subject to rapid change. For specific operations, verify the requirements in force with your importer, the relevant municipality and a specialist freight forwarder before shipping.