Know all about Emirates Quality Mark (EQM)
Emirates Quality Mark (EQM) is a quality mark of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The EQM certificate is issued & the logo is copyrighted by the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) previously known as Emirates Authority for Standardization & Metrology (ESMA), a federal authority of the UAE. Like the quality mark of any country, the EQM logo on a product signifies that the product is compliant & is of the highest quality according to the UAE standards & regulations. EQM certificated products not only enjoy expedited clearance at the ports of entry, but may also benefit from potentially favorable marketing edge & branding to the UAE consumers.
Products that required EQM certificate
EQM certificate is mandatory for multiple categories of products to either enter or to be marketed in the UAE. Those products include but are not limited to bottled drinking water, natural mineral water, fruit juices, fruit drinks, yogurt, flavored milk, and others. EQM certificate is issued per brand, per factory & per product category and is valid for 3 years. All EQM certified products are mandatorily required to depict the EQM logo on the label.
Though the Emirates Quality Mark certificate & logo is issued by MoIAT/ESMA, the process is managed by notified bodies that have been approved (accredited) by MoIAT/ESMA. There are multiple notified bodies to choose from but not every certification is approved by MoIAT/ESMA for all the product categories and they vary to a degree. As from our experience, though the process of EQM certification is uniform, the notified bodies differ in their capability to verify compliance & other requirements. Hence, interpretation of the information & documents differs for the same products from one notified body to the other.
EQM certification Process
EQM certification process requires an audit as part of the certification process. Apart from an initial audit that will be conducted prior to certification, there will be an annual certification at the end of each year, i.e. at the end of the first year and second year. Apart from the audit the important documents required for the EQM certification include but are not limited to the product label(s). (GT can help you with ensuring your label & ingredients are in compliance with the relevant UAE regulations.), test reports, and QMS/FSMS certificate among other requirements.
EQM Certificate Fee
EQM fees consist of the EQM certification fee & EQM logo fee. EQM logo fee is AED 15,000 and is valid for 3 years. Whereas the EQM certification fee varies slightly among notified bodies. However, the total fee for EQM certification project could range between AED 30,000 – AED 45,000 including the logo licensing fees for 3 years & initial audit cost.
Upgrading EQM certificate
Products that mandatorily require Emirates Conformity Assessment Scheme (ECAS) certificate can optionally upgrade to the EQM certificate. There are multiple benefits for upgrading to EQM certificate including but not limited to the possibility of having more products certified per application, renewal every 3 years instead of every year, reduced testing and packaging cost, etc. Nevertheless, compared with ECAS, EQM has drawbacks of expensive initial investment and audit requirements. Though over the period of three years the cost of EQM is less than that of ECAS especially when a large number of SKUs are involved.
