The UAE federal government is mainly responsible for foreign trade management by the Ministry of Economy, and its functions mainly include:

Formulate economic and trade policies

Formulate laws and regulations to regulate economic and trade activities

Monitor economic operations and protect consumer rights

Manage domestic investment and attract foreign investment

Coordinate the relationship between government departments and enterprises, etc.

In addition to the Ministry of Economy, the seven emirates in the UAE all have semi-official chambers of commerce and industry. The seven emirates' chambers of commerce and industry jointly form the UAE Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI), headquartered in Abu Dhabi. It is mainly responsible for coordinating the relationship between the chambers of commerce and industry in the emirates, organizing and participating in the activities of the chambers of commerce and industry between the emirates, and promoting foreign exchanges and cooperation among UAE entrepreneurs.

The main functions of the chambers of commerce and industry in each emirate include:

Implement the relevant industrial and commercial policies of the emirate

Manage private companies and enterprises in the emirate

Responsible for the registration of companies and enterprises, issuing business licenses and chamber of commerce membership certificates, etc.

Provide information on economic trade and market to members of the chambers of commerce and industry in the emirate, and introduce customers

The UAE implements a free economic policy and foreign trade imports and exports are free. Except for military equipment and weapons, which are imported by the government, there are no restrictions on general consumer goods and mechanical equipment. The procurement of large government projects is generally imported by the government with the consent of the government.

The current laws on trade in the UAE mainly include 10 laws, including the Company Law, the Commercial Agency Law, and the Bankruptcy Law. The latest revised Commercial Company Law was officially implemented in June 2021. The newly revised Commercial Company Law allows foreign capital to own 100% of onshore companies and abolishes the requirement that commercial companies must be shareholders of UAE citizens; UAE citizens or local companies are no longer required as registered agents, except for specific industries such as oil, natural gas, public utilities, and transportation.

The UAE's import and export commodity inspection and quarantine adopts import and export commodity standards that are basically consistent with the GCC standards. Except for strict control of commodities that affect public life, health, safety, and the environment, the access standards for other commodities are relatively loose. In order to maintain public health and safety and Islamic religious beliefs, the UAE implements import controls on some commodities. The commodities involved in the control include prohibited imports and restricted imports. For details, please check the official website of the UAE Customs.

On July 22, 2019, China and the UAE officially signed the "Arrangement between the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China and the Federal Customs Administration of the United Arab Emirates on the Mutual Recognition of the Chinese Customs Enterprise Credit Management System and the UAE Customs "Authorized Economic Operator" System" (hereinafter referred to as the "Mutual Recognition Arrangement"). According to the "Mutual Recognition Arrangement", the customs of China and the UAE will grant each other's AEO enterprises the following convenience measures when clearing imported goods:

Apply a lower document review rate

Apply a lower import and export goods inspection rate

Give priority inspection to goods that require physical inspection

A designated customs liaison officer is responsible for communicating and handling problems encountered by project members during customs clearance

Priority customs clearance after international trade is interrupted and resumed

AEO, full name: Authorized Economic Operator, is a system advocated by the World Customs Organization (WCO) to certify enterprises with high credit status, law-abidingness and level through customs, and give preferential customs clearance convenience to certified enterprises.