Licensable activity
Trading & distribution
Buying goods and selling them on. The UAE distinguishes between a general trading licence, which covers most unrestricted goods, and specific trading activities naming a commodity class — building materials, foodstuffs, electronics, textiles and so on.
Classification
How it is coded.
UAE activity lists derive from ISIC Revision 4, the United Nations industrial classification. Each emirate's economic department and each free zone then extends that base with its own numbering, so the same activity carries a different code in Dubai than it does in Sharjah or inside DMCC.
- ISIC Rev. 4
- Section G — Wholesale and retail trade (divisions 45–47)
- Licence category
- Commercial
- Regulator
- No sector regulator — the licensing authority is the only approval, unless a specific product or premises triggers one.
Approvals beyond the licence
- Foodstuffs
- Municipality food control in the emirate of import, plus product registration.
- Pharmaceuticals and medical devices
- Ministry of Health and Prevention, with product-by-product registration.
- Cosmetics and supplements
- Municipality and MoHAP registration before first import.
- Telecom and radio equipment
- TDRA type-approval for anything that transmits.
- Chemicals, arms, tobacco
- Restricted lists with their own federal approvals — assume months, not weeks.
In practice
A general trading licence costs more than a named-commodity licence and buys flexibility you may not need. Importing anything requires a customs client code registered against the licence, which is a separate step people routinely discover at the port.
Coverage
Where it can be licensed.
Of the 40 licensing authorities across the UAE, 23 issue licences covering this activity, spread across 7 of the seven emirates.