Irish Businesses to Pay New Fees for Exports to UAE
New Attestation Fee is good news for exporters claims Arab Irish Chamber of Commerce
9 February 2023:
From this month, Irish companies exporting to the UAE are required to pay a new Attestation Fee for every commercial invoice with a value above 10,000 AED (around €2,500). However, according to the Arab Irish Chamber of Commerce (AICC), this is good news for Irish exporters.
“Until now, any business exporting to the UAE had to pay a levy based on the value of each of their commercial invoices,” said Ahmad Younis, CEO of the AICC. “So the higher the invoice value, the higher the levy,” he explained.
“This has now been replaced a new Attestation fee, meaning that a business will pay a flat rate of around €381 (150AED), regardless of whether their invoice is for €5,000 or €50,000.”
The Attestation fee was introduced this month by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC), and relates to just one of a number of documents that Irish businesses have to submit if exporting to the UAE.
The AICC, which supports exporters doing business in the Arab World, has reassured Irish businesses that its proprietary systems and processes have been updated to manage all requisite documents and transactions on their behalf, including certificates of origin and legalisation forms.
Mr Younis said that the AICC’s expertise, in addition to its strong relationship with the UAE embassy, would ensure that there are no delays or additional administrative burdens on companies exporting east as a result of this new Attestation Fee.
“Each Arab state has different requirements and while the processes can be complicated and time-consuming, we have the systems, the relationships and the unique software in place to manage these on behalf of Irish exporters. This means they can hand over all of the admin and any corresponding challenges (such as language and legalisation) to the AICC, and we coordinate with the UAE embassy and the UAE authorities on their behalf,” said Mr Younis.
The UAE import market is growing at pace and presents significant opportunities to Irish exporters – it’s the second biggest market in the Arab world for Irish exporters. In the first nine months of 2022, the UAE imported more than €478 million worth of Irish goods2, up 21% on the previous year.
The Arab Irish Chamber of Commerce (AICC) promotes and supports trade between Ireland and the Arab World with Irish exports to the UAE including Food & drink; baby formula; pharmaceuticals; medtech and electronics.
Failure to comply with the new MoFAIC imposed fees within 14 days would result in a financial penalty of AED500 per invoice (around €125) and all imports of 10,000AED or more must be accompanied by an invoice attested by MoFAIC.
Some exemptions do apply including invoices values <10,000AED, personal imports, diplomatic, police and military and charitable goods.
For businesses looking for more information or support with exporting to the UAE and other Arab states www.aicc.ie / Tel: 01 662 4451
Notes to editors:
1 Figures as per exchange rate as at 3 February 2022
2 AICC 2022 Irish Exports Report
