Date of issue: 3 March 2020
Date of effect: 1 April 2020
Reference Number: MAA2020-02
Attention:
- Industries - Industry Bodies – Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC), Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC)
- Export honey and other apiculture products establishments
- Licensed exporters
- State regulatory authorities
- Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment—Central and Regional offices
Purpose
To advise that the Emirate Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA) has announced that, as of 1 April 2020, they will enforce the requirement for an Emirates Quality Mark (EQM) on the product labels of all sizes of bottles of honey sold in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which includes honey imported from Australia. Food retailers will be targeted with fines for non-compliance.
Summary of key points
- The UAE Decree of the Council of Ministers No (49) 2016, concerning the UAE Law on Honey Control, outlines the requirement for an Emirates Quality Mark (EQM) on product labels of all sizes of bottles of honey sold in the UAE.
- To obtain an Emirates Quality Mark (EQM), Australian manufacturers need to apply directly to ESMA for registration and receive a desktop assessment of the manufacturing process.
- The link to the ESMA, EQM site is: https://www.esma.gov.ae/en-us/Services/Pages/Emirates-Quality-Mark.aspx
- There is a fee of up to AUD$12,000 to obtain an EQM, which is valid for 3 years after which the manufacturer will need to repeat the same process for product registration.
- In consideration of the time and effort required by industry to transition to the new products labels with EQM, ESMA will provide a grace period, on a case by case basis.
- Exporters should contact their importers about the grace period and compliance with EQM requirements.
- MICoR will be updated to reflect these changes.
Further information
Contact Export Standards if you have any queries.
The information provided in this advice is current at the time of writing and is intended for use as guidance only and should not be taken as definitive or exhaustive. The Commonwealth endeavours to keep information current and accurate, however, it may be subject to change without notice. Exporters are encouraged to verify these details with their importers prior to undertaking production/exports. The Commonwealth will not accept liability for any loss resulting from reliance on information contained in this notice.