Here is an example. Say you make kurtas and dupattas in Jaipur and sell them on Amazon.in. More and more of your messages come from families in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, asking if you ship there. You decide to try Amazon.ae, Amazon’s store in the UAE.
Opening the account is the easy part. You can do it from India, and Amazon charges no monthly fee for the UAE store through Global Selling. The harder part comes when your stock has to cross the border. At that point, you need a business in the UAE on your side.
Here is how it works, and what we would do first.
Opening the account
There are two ways to start from India. If you already sell on Amazon.in, you add the UAE from the “Sell globally” section of Seller Central. Your accounts are then merged, and the merge cannot be undone. If you do not sell on Amazon.in, you can register your Indian business directly on Amazon.ae. India is on its list of countries allowed to register.
Either way, you need your business details, an ID for the main contact, and a card for fees. Amazon checks your identity with a photo or video. Payments can come to your Indian bank account in rupees.
For the export itself, Amazon’s Export to UAE page lists the Indian documents: an Import Export Code (IEC), an AD code from your bank, a GST Letter of Undertaking so you can export without paying IGST, and the usual invoice, packing list and certificate of origin. It also mentions CEPA, the trade agreement between India and the UAE, which removes duty on some goods, including textiles.
The UAE side: licence and importer
You will read online that every Indian seller needs a UAE trade licence. Amazon’s own rule is narrower. Its help page says a business located in the UAE must hold a UAE commercial licence. When an Indian seller asked Amazon in the seller forums whether this applied to them, the reply said UAE business activity “typically” needs one. It did not say that a business based in India must have one.
In practice, a UAE business comes in anyway. If you use FBA, your stock needs a UAE importer of record, the company that brings the goods in through customs. Amazon cannot be your importer. You ship with duties paid, and if nobody clears the stock, it waits at customs at 10 dirhams a day from the fifth day. Dubai Customs gives importer codes only to businesses whose licence covers import. And the product approvals below also need a UAE-licensed applicant.
So you have two choices: set up your own UAE company, or work with a UAE importer who does this for other brands. For a first year in the UAE, we would start with an importer partner, and set up your own company once sales justify it. Amazon’s Service Provider Network lists firms that help with licences, VAT and imports, though Amazon does not endorse any of them.
VAT from the first sale
The UAE charges VAT at 5%. Local businesses register once their sales pass 375,000 dirhams a year. For a seller outside the UAE whose stock is held there, Amazon’s tax policies page says there is no threshold. You must register from your first UAE sale.
Amazon does not collect, report or pay VAT for you. Your prices on Amazon.ae must include VAT, and your invoices must meet UAE rules. Some blogs say Amazon pays the VAT for Indian sellers. Amazon’s own page says the opposite, so plan for it yourself.
If you ship each order from India yourself, instead of using FBA, the rules are different. Amazon said in 2023 that sellers who only ship from outside the UAE may not need to register. The shopper may then pay import VAT and duties on delivery, and deliveries from India take longer.
Product approvals
On Amazon.ae, some categories need approval before you can list: beauty, clothing and accessories, grocery, health and personal care, jewellery, shoes, watches and a few more. Amazon asks for invoices from the last 180 days, product photos and, where needed, safety certificates. A review takes 2 to 7 business days.
The UAE government has its own approvals too. The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) regulates products such as cosmetics, perfumes, detergents, textiles, electrical goods and food-contact materials. These need a certificate of conformity, called ECAS, based on a lab report. In Dubai, cosmetics, fragrances, detergents, supplements and food-contact products must also be registered with Dubai Municipality through its Montaji system. Dubai Municipality updated its e-commerce rules on 16 September 2026, and its technical guidelines set out what each product needs. A cosmetic may need both approvals.
Two practical rules stand out. Dubai Municipality wants products arriving for sale to have at least half their shelf life left, and never less than six months. And electrical products need a manual in Arabic and English, and UK-style three-pin plugs.
Labels in Arabic
The UAE’s consumer protection law says information for consumers must be in Arabic, and other languages can be added. The US government’s export guide for the UAE says labels must be in Arabic, or Arabic and English. It also says Arabic stickers are accepted only if the authorities approve them first and they are applied before export, not after the goods arrive. Dubai Municipality’s cosmetics rules allow English and/or Arabic, so the sources do not fully agree.
Our advice: before you print, ask your UAE importer what your product needs. For most brands, a pack with Arabic and English together is the safest choice.
Listings, brand and sales
Amazon.ae asks sellers to list in the store’s language, and its own guide says English works. Since September 2024, you can also add Arabic keywords to your Sponsored Products ads in the UAE. A+ Content is available once your brand is in Brand Registry. Amazon.ae’s Brand Registry page accepts a trademark from any country with an Amazon store, so an Indian trademark qualifies. But an Amazon staff reply in 2024 asked for a trademark in each country, so check before you rely on it. Our Brand Registry guide covers the Indian side.
The UAE’s big sales have their own names. Amazon.ae calls its November sale White Friday. In 2025, it ran from 20 to 30 November. There is also a Ramadan sale early in the year, and Prime Day in the summer. If your stock is in UAE warehouses, Amazon’s Remote Fulfillment can also sell it to shoppers in Saudi Arabia.
Where we come in
We make listings, images, A+ Content and brand stores for brands that sell on Amazon.ae, including Indian brands selling through Global Selling. We set up your UAE listings, adapt your images and A+ for the store, and design packs with room for Arabic and English labels, using translations that you or your importer approve. See our listing work and packaging design, and our guide to Global Selling for the US and other stores.
We are not an importer, a tax adviser or a licensing firm. Those need a UAE partner. For most Indian brands, finding that partner is the first real step, so start there.
