Importing your first shipment into the UAE: a guide for new companies

A new UAE company can hold a valid licence, a bank account and a signed purchase order, and still watch its first container sit at the port. The usual reasons are small and avoidable: a licence activity that does not cover the goods, a missing customs code, an invoice that was not attested, or a tariff code that no longer matches the system.

Imports are where a company first meets the customs authorities, and customs checks the paperwork against the licence line by line. Getting the first shipment right sets the pattern for every one after it, and it keeps duty, VAT and storage charges predictable.

This guide walks through the sequence a new company follows to bring its first consignment into the UAE: the licence, customs registration, documents, HS codes, duty, restricted goods, the free zone question and the role of a clearing agent. It uses Dubai as the main example, but the same logic holds across the emirates.

Start with the licence, not the shipment

Customs registration follows the licence. When a company registers with Dubai Customs, it has to state its business type, and that type must match the activities on the licence. A consultancy licence will not become an importer's registration because the owner wants to bring in one container of stock.

So the first question is whether your activities allow trading, and for which goods. General trading, a specific trading line such as foodstuff or electronics, or an import and export activity each carry different scope, and some goods need an extra approval before the licence is issued. If you are still choosing between a free zone and the mainland, our guide to Free Zone vs Mainland explains how that choice affects where your goods can be sold.

Register with customs before anything ships

Every commercial import is declared under a customs client code, which Dubai Customs calls a business code. You apply online through the Dubai Trade portal with a copy of the trade licence, the authorised person's passport and Emirates ID. Dubai Customs' own service guide lists completion within one working day for a complete application, and the code stays valid for as long as the licence does. When the licence is renewed, the code is renewed after it.

A few points catch new companies out:

• Each emirate has its own customs administration. Dubai Customs, Abu Dhabi Customs (through the ATLP single window) and Sharjah Customs each register importers. Register where your goods will actually enter.
• Free zone companies register too. Dubai Customs has a separate free zone business type, and free zone companies use it for movements in and out of the zone.
• Link the code to your tax number. Once the company is VAT registered, the Federal Tax Authority expects the customs registration to be linked to the Tax Registration Number, so that import VAT is accounted for on the VAT return rather than paid at the port.

The documents that travel with the goods

For a standard import to the local market from outside the GCC, Dubai Customs lists the core documents as:

• Commercial invoice from the seller, showing the goods, quantities, values and terms of sale.
• Packing list with weights, packages and marks.
• Bill of lading for sea freight, or airway bill for air freight, plus a delivery order for sea cargo.
• Certificate of origin, which decides whether any preferential rate applies.
• Permits wherever the goods are restricted.

There is one UAE rule that many overseas suppliers do not know. Since 1 February 2023, commercial invoices for imports valued at AED 10,000 or more must be attested through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' online service, within 14 days of the customs declaration, as reported by Khaleej Times. Goods entering free zones, goods from GCC countries and transit goods are among the exemptions. The attestation service is still live in 2026.

Customs reads your shipment the way a bank reads your account application: every document has to tell the same story as the licence.

HS codes, duty and permits

Every product is declared under a Harmonized System code, and that code decides the duty rate, whether a permit is needed and how the goods are checked. The UAE is moving from 8-digit to 12-digit codes: six international digits, two GCC digits and four national digits. Dubai Customs' published roadmap made 12-digit codes mandatory for imports from the rest of the world into the local market from August 2026, with temporary movements such as imports for re-export following from February 2027. Check that your supplier's codes and your declaration use the current structure.

Duty follows the GCC common customs tariff. The general rule is 5 percent of the CIF value, meaning the cost of the goods plus insurance and freight. Alcohol is charged at 50 percent and tobacco at 100 percent. Some tariff lines are exempt, and several categories of exemption apply by law:

• GCC origin. Goods produced in a GCC state move within the customs union without duty, with a certificate of origin.
• Trade agreements. Goods from countries covered by agreements such as the Greater Arab Free Trade Area, or by the UAE's newer CEPAs, can enter at reduced or zero rates when a valid proof of origin is presented.
• Duty suspension. Goods in transit, in customs warehouses, admitted into free zones or imported for re-export are not charged duty while they stay in that status.

Import VAT at 5 percent is separate from duty and is calculated on a value that includes the duty. A VAT-registered importer normally accounts for it through the reverse charge on the VAT return. Our guide to the UAE tax system covers VAT registration, and a licensed tax agent can confirm your position.

Restricted and prohibited goods

Some goods cannot be imported at all under the Common Customs Law of the GCC States. Others are allowed only with a permit from the competent authority, and the permit is attached to the declaration by tariff code. Typical examples include:

• Live animals, plants, seeds, fertilisers and veterinary products, through the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.
• Medicines and pharmaceutical products, through the health authorities.
• Arms, ammunition and related equipment, through the Ministry of Interior and defence authorities.
• Food, which must be registered and label-assessed before it is sold. Our guide to Ethiopian exporters and the UAE market touches on this.

Check the permit position for each HS code before you pay the supplier. A restricted item that arrives without its approval is held, and storage costs start the day it lands.

Free zone or mainland: where the goods land

Where your company is licensed decides what happens at the border. The rules below are Dubai Customs' declaration types in plain terms.

The practical point is the third row. A free zone company can import, store and re-export freely, but when its goods are sold into the mainland, duty is paid at that moment and the declaration is lodged by a registered local importer or broker. If most of your customers are on the mainland, build that step into your pricing and your structure from the start.

Working with a clearing agent

Most new importers do not file declarations themselves in their first year. Dubai Customs lets a registered importer authorise a licensed customs broker electronically, choose which declaration types the broker may submit, and set how long the authorisation lasts. Under the customs rules, the broker is responsible for the accuracy of the declarations it lodges.

A good clearing agent classifies the goods, prepares the declaration, arranges inspection and delivery, and tells you early when a document is wrong. What an agent cannot do is fix a licence that does not cover the goods, or produce a permit the goods never had. Those sit with the company.

How And Again Advisory helps

We are a Dubai advisory firm, registered in Meydan Free Zone, with offices in Meydan and Deira, and we work with founders in English and Amharic. For a company that plans to import, our work is to make sure the structure fits the trade before any money is committed: the right jurisdiction, licence activities that cover the goods, and a setup that runs through to activation, meaning visas, Emirates ID, a bank account and compliance registrations.

We coordinate the authorities and work with licensed partners, such as customs brokers, where a step needs one. We do not clear goods ourselves or give tax advice. Most of our clients are registered within two to three weeks, government fees are passed through at cost, and our own fee sits on its own line. For an itemised view of your setup, use our cost estimator.

Final thought: the first shipment sets the pattern

Importing into the UAE is not complicated once the order is right: licence, customs code, documents, codes, permits, then the goods. Most delays come from doing those steps out of order. Build the company around what you will actually import, and the first container becomes the template for the hundredth.