Commercial invoice
The seller’s bill to the buyer. Customs uses it to value the goods, so the description, quantity, unit price, currency and Incoterm must be accurate.
Trade Guide
The working knowledge behind a good trade.
Plain-language answers to the questions buyers and suppliers ask most: who pays for what, which documents travel with a shipment, how to brief a sourcing request, and what it costs to land goods in the UAE.
The UAE as a trade hub
Why trade runs through the UAE.
Public figures from official and industry sources. They describe the UAE’s trade environment, not SMIT’s own volumes.
AED 3.8tn
UAE non-oil foreign trade in 2025, up about 27% on 2024.
WAM via TradeArabia, Jan 202615.5m TEU
Containers handled at Jebel Ali Port in 2024, its highest since 2015.
Gulf News, Sep 2025No. 5
Dubai’s global rank in the 2025 International Shipping Centre Development Index, first in the Arab region.
Xinhua–Baltic Exchange index95.2m
International passengers at Dubai International in 2025, the busiest airport in the world for international traffic.
ACI World via TRBusiness, Apr 202614
Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs) in force by the end of 2025.
WAM via TradeArabia, Jan 202640+
Free zones across the seven emirates, each with its own licensing and customs arrangements.
List of UAE free zonesUTC+4 Gulf Standard Time overlaps the working day in Europe, Africa and much of Asia, so suppliers and buyers on both sides can be reached on the same day.
Incoterms® 2020
Who pays, and when the risk moves.
Incoterms are the eleven trade terms published by the International Chamber of Commerce. Pick one to see which costs the seller carries and where risk passes to the buyer.
Any mode of transport
Sea and inland waterway
FOB
Free On Board
- Packing & loading at origin
- Export clearance
- Delivery to carrier or port
- Main carriage (freight)
- Cargo insurance
- Arrival & unloading
- Import clearance & duties Risk passes
Seller paysBuyer paysRisk transfer point
A summary for orientation only. The full rules are published by the ICC; always state the rule, the named place and “Incoterms® 2020” in your contract.
Shipping documents
The paperwork that travels with your goods.
Most cross-border shipments rely on the same core set. Missing or inconsistent documents are a frequent cause of delay at customs.
Packing list
What is in each carton, pallet or container, with weights and dimensions. It must match the invoice and the physical shipment.
Bill of lading or air waybill
Issued by the carrier as a receipt and contract of carriage. An original ocean bill of lading can also act as a document of title.
Certificate of origin
States where the goods were made. It can decide the duty rate, and whether preferential terms under a trade agreement apply.
Insurance certificate
Evidence of cargo cover. Required from the seller under CIF and CIP, and commonly requested under a letter of credit.
Inspection & conformity certificates
Pre-shipment inspection reports, test results or conformity certificates, where the buyer, the destination market or the product category requires them.
Landed-cost estimator
What will it cost to land in the UAE?
A quick estimate for most goods imported into the UAE mainland. Customs duty is generally 5% of the CIF value, and VAT is generally 5%. Some goods carry other rates or exemptions, so treat this as a starting point.
Sourcing checklist
Brief a sourcing request in ten points.
The clearer the brief, the faster suppliers can quote like for like. Tick through it before you send an enquiry.
Send a sourcing brief0 of 10 ready
Market-entry checklist
Before you launch in a new market.
Five questions every market-entry plan should answer.
01
Demand
Who buys this product in the market, through which channels, and against which competitors?
02
Regulation
What registrations, standards, labelling and import permits apply to your product category?
03
Route to market
Direct sales, a distributor, an agent, or a local entity such as a free-zone company?
04
Landed price
After freight, duty, taxes and partner margins, is the shelf price still competitive?
05
Partners
Which logistics providers, distributors and service partners will carry the product day to day?
Glossary
Trade terms, decoded.
- Bill of lading (B/L)
- The carrier’s receipt and contract for sea freight; an original negotiable B/L also represents title to the goods.
- CIF value
- Cost of the goods plus insurance and freight to the destination. The usual base for UAE customs duty.
- Customs broker
- A licensed agent who prepares and lodges customs declarations on behalf of an importer or exporter.
- Demurrage
- A charge for keeping a container at the port or terminal beyond the free time allowed.
- Detention
- A charge for keeping the shipping line’s container outside the terminal beyond the free time allowed.
- FCL / LCL
- Full container load, where one shipper uses the whole container, or less than container load, where cargo shares a container.
- Free zone
- A designated area with its own licensing and customs regime. Goods can often be stored or re-exported without paying mainland duty.
- HS code
- The Harmonized System number that classifies a product for customs. It determines the duty rate and any controls.
- Landed cost
- The total cost of a product once it arrives: goods, freight, insurance, duties, taxes and local charges.
- Lead time
- The time from placing an order to goods being ready, or to goods arriving, depending on how it is quoted.
- Letter of credit (L/C)
- A bank’s promise to pay the seller once documents that match the agreed terms are presented.
- MOQ
- Minimum order quantity: the smallest order a supplier will accept for a product or specification.
- Pre-shipment inspection
- A quality check of finished goods before they leave the factory, usually on a statistical sample.
- Re-export
- Exporting goods that were previously imported, a common activity through UAE free zones.
- TEU
- Twenty-foot equivalent unit, the standard measure of container capacity. A 40-foot container is two TEU.
- Telegraphic transfer (T/T)
- A bank wire payment, often split into a deposit before production and a balance before shipment.
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Insights
Step-by-step guides.
Put it into practice