When halal certification is required, and when it is not

In the UAE, the items for which halal certification is legally required are beef and poultry meat. For other foods, the obligation to prove it arises the moment the label says halal. Saudi Arabia widened its scope in 2020 beyond meat, to foods containing animal-derived rennet, gelatine, lipase or pepsin. (As of 2026.09)

Halal is the item on which Middle East exporters both over-prepare and under-prepare at the same time. Companies spend certification budget and schedule on products that do not need it, or, where it is needed, fail to check the issuing body's standing and end up with paperwork that is void. We start with what the rules actually require.

01. The legally mandatory scope is narrow

Among foods entering the UAE, the items for which a halal certificate is required are beef and poultry meat and products made from them. The UAE export certificate report published by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) describes the items needing halal certification for entry into the UAE as beef and poultry meat products. Meat and meat products require an original halal slaughter certificate.

The governing standard is GSO 993, “Requirements for slaughtering animals according to Islamic law”. The edition in force is the second, approved on 5 November 2015. The UAE adopted it as UAE.S 993/2022, effective 1 December 2023.

02. Saying halal creates the obligation

Items other than meat sit differently. The rules do not require certification up front, but once a supplier claims halal, the burden of proof follows.

The US Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration, setting out UAE labelling requirements, states that where a halal logo is printed on a product label, the supplier or importer must produce a halal certificate. The marking itself is also restricted: the USDA report notes that where a halal mark is shown in the UAE, the UAE halal logo must be used, and other logos or marks are not recognised.

03. Saudi Arabia's scope is different

Saudi Arabia covers more than the UAE. The USDA FAS Saudi Arabia report states that, since 2020, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has recognised only certificates issued by certification bodies accredited by the SFDA Halal Centre, for poultry and livestock meat, products and raw materials made from them, and foods made with animal-derived rennet, gelatine, lipase or pepsin.

The International Trade Administration's guidance on Saudi labelling states that meat and poultry consignments bound for Saudi Arabia require a halal certificate for each shipment.

The same product can be exempt in the UAE and mandatory in Saudi Arabia. Preparing for the GCC as if it were a single regulatory bloc comes apart at exactly this point.

04. The issuing body matters before the certificate

What most often voids a halal certificate is not its contents but the standing of the body that issued it. The USDA FAS UAE report states that only halal certificates issued by a certification body approved by the UAE are recognised.

UAE: the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MOIAT) publishes a list of approved accreditation bodies and a list of registered halal certification bodies. Registration runs on renewal, and the renewal procedure exists as a separate service.

Saudi Arabia: the SFDA Halal Centre maintains the accredited certification bodies.

Whether a Korean certification body is registered in the UAE or Saudi Arabia varies by body and by date. Do not rely on a general claim that a given body is recognised: before signing for issuance, look up that body's registration status and validity period directly in the destination country's official directory.

05. It comes down to ingredients

Problems often surface at the ingredient stage rather than in the finished product. The ingredients the Saudi rules name explicitly are animal-derived rennet, gelatine, lipase and pepsin. Guidance on halal food import requirements published by Kuwait's Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources places enzymes and additives derived from non-halal sources on its prohibited list, and refers to GSO 2500:2022 for permitted additives.

Alcohol is covered by a separate standard. GSO 2538, “Maximum permitted limits of residual ethyl alcohol in foods”, is in force in its second edition, approved on 1 July 2021, and its scope expressly names ethanol used as a solvent in flavourings. Products that use an alcohol carrier in their flavourings fall within it. The specific limits sit in the body of the standard, so where a decision has to rest on the figures, obtain that edition from the GSO standards store and check against it.

Cosmetics have their own standard. GSO 2055-4, “Halal products, part 4: requirements for halal cosmetics and personal care”, was approved on 1 July 2021 and is in force. We found no basis, however, for treating halal certification of cosmetics as mandatory in the UAE or Saudi Arabia. What cosmetics must go through in the UAE is conformity certification and product registration in each emirate; halal is a separate choice.

In summary

It narrows to three questions. First, is the product UAE meat or poultry. Second, is it going to Saudi Arabia, and does it contain animal-derived rennet, gelatine, lipase or pepsin. Third, will the label say halal. If the answer to all three is no, the product can often enter without certification. If any one applies, check that the issuing body appears on the destination country's list before obtaining a certificate.