UAE Informs on Changes in National Certification Procedure

The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has recently taken some decisions regarding certification procedures in the country.

The MoIAT informed its notification bodies that starting from March 1st, 2025 they would no longer be able to issue voluntary ECAS certificates.

However, the MoIAT themselves started to provide voluntary ECAS certification services from the beginning of March.

Another decision discussed during the meeting concerns the use of wildcard characters in product model numbers. The MoIAT plans to announce the cancellation of ECAS and EQM certificates for products with wildcard characters in the model number. However, the specific dates when this decision will take effect,has not yet been announced.

For your information, the UAE government implemented the Emirates Conformity Assessment Scheme (ECAS) as a regulatory mandatory instrument in 2015. In 2016, the UAE Government involved third-party Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABS) in the ECAS program making them responsible for overseeing the conformity assessment procedures and granting certifications for product safety to ensure compliance with UAE standards for goods placed on the UAE market.

ECAS applies to all types of regulated products in the UAE.

Suppliers must register the products and obtain ECAS Certificate of Conformity prior to selling them in the UAE.

The validity of the ECAS certificate is one year and it can be renewed. The application for renewal should be submitted not later than one month before planned renewal or expiration.

Please note: it is necessary to apply for the certificate under the name of a local applicant. If you do not have one, it is better to use a third-party applicant. This approach makes the process easier and clearer compared to using a single distributor's efforts.

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