The UAE has enacted a new federal Agricultural Quarantine Law that repeals Federal Law No. (5) of 1979 and rebuilds the country's phytosanitary regime around the current International Plant Protection Convention. Issued as part of the January 2026 package of federal environmental and biodiversity laws and administered by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, it governs how plants, plant products, seeds, beneficial organisms and other regulated articles may be imported into, exported from or moved in transit through the State — and it sharply raises the cost of getting compliance wrong, with fines reaching AED 500,000 and mandatory deportation for repeat foreign offenders.
Who should read this
Importers, exporters, re-exporters and transit operators of plants, seeds and plant products; customs brokers and logistics providers handling agricultural consignments; and nurseries, growers, free-zone traders and agri-supply-chain businesses that move regulated material through the UAE.
Directly affected
Key facts
- Instrument: new federal Agricultural Quarantine Law, issued in the UAE's January 2026 package of federal environmental and biodiversity laws.
- Repeals: Federal Law No. (5) of 1979 Concerning Agricultural Quarantine, in force for some 45 years.
- Regulator: Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE), the federal authority for phytosanitary control.
- Scope: plants, plant products, seeds, beneficial organisms and other regulated articles imported into, exported from or in transit through the UAE.
- Standard: aligned with the current International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), updating terminology to phytosanitary regulations, regulated articles, quarantine pests, beneficial organisms and phytosanitary certificates.
- Controls: phytosanitary certification, inspection and prescribed treatment as prerequisites for moving regulated consignments.
- Penalties: fines up to AED 500,000, with mandatory deportation for repeat foreign offenders.
Executive summary
The 1979 quarantine statute predated the modern global trade in fresh produce, seeds and ornamental plants, and the terminology and enforcement tools it offered no longer matched either UAE trade volumes or the current IPPC standard. The new law resets the baseline. It restates the UAE's phytosanitary regime in IPPC-consistent language, brings transit movements squarely within scope, and pairs updated import, export and treatment requirements with materially higher penalties. For a jurisdiction that positions itself as a re-export hub for agricultural commodities, the practical effect is a tighter, better-defined compliance perimeter around every regulated consignment that touches the country.
Key provisions
The law applies to plants, plant products, beneficial organisms and other regulated articles that are imported into, exported from or transit through the State. Consignments in these categories are subject to phytosanitary certification, inspection and, where required, prescribed treatment before they may enter, leave or pass through the UAE. The framework adopts IPPC-aligned definitions — regulated articles, quarantine pests, beneficial organisms and phytosanitary certificates — which matters because those defined terms determine what is caught and what documentation each movement requires.
Enforcement is the sharpest change. Penalties rise to fines reaching AED 500,000, and repeat foreign offenders face mandatory deportation. Detailed procedures — the mechanics of inspection, treatment, quarantine handling and certification — are set through implementing decisions of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment rather than in the primary law, so the operative detail sits in subsidiary regulation that businesses must track alongside the statute itself.
Practical implications
For importers and exporters, the certification chain becomes the compliance chokepoint: a valid phytosanitary certificate, matched to the correct regulated-article classification and any required treatment, is what keeps a consignment moving. Misclassification, an expired certificate or an untreated consignment now carries five-figure and six-figure exposure rather than a nominal fine.
Transit and re-export operators can no longer treat goods that merely pass through the UAE as outside the regime — transit movements are expressly in scope, so free-zone and logistics operators handling regulated plant material need their own phytosanitary controls, not just reliance on origin-country paperwork. Customs brokers and logistics providers should expect inspection and documentary checks to be applied more rigorously, and should confirm that treatment providers and certification workflows meet the standards MOCCAE sets in its implementing decisions.
Action points
- Map every import, export, re-export and transit flow involving plants, seeds, plant products or beneficial organisms against the new regulated-article definitions.
- Audit your phytosanitary certification and treatment procedures — including those of customs brokers and third-party logistics providers — for gaps against IPPC-aligned requirements.
- Assign clear internal ownership for phytosanitary compliance and monitor MOCCAE implementing decisions, which carry the operative procedural detail.
- Assess penalty exposure (fines up to AED 500,000 and deportation risk for repeat foreign offenders) and update contracts, indemnities and SOPs with counterparties accordingly.
- Prepare an inspection-response protocol so seizures, holds or treatment orders are handled quickly and without admissions that prejudice later disputes.
Amends / replaces: Repeals Federal Law No. (5) of 1979 Concerning Agricultural Quarantine.
Directly affected: importers, exporters, re-exporters, transit operators, customs brokers, logistics providers, nurseries, growers and agricultural traders.
Enforcement and disputes
With penalties rising to AED 500,000 and deportation on the table for repeat foreign offenders, disputes are more likely to turn on the correctness of a phytosanitary classification, the validity of a certificate or the adequacy of treatment. How a business responds to an inspection, hold or seizure — and what it documents at that moment — will shape any subsequent challenge before MOCCAE or the courts. Businesses moving regulated material through the UAE should have both preventive controls and a response protocol in place before a consignment is stopped, not after.
Sources and authorities
New federal Agricultural Quarantine Law — repeals Federal Law No. (5) of 1979 Concerning Agricultural Quarantine; administered by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE).
UAE Legislation Portal: https://uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations/3995
Cross-checked against leading practitioner and news coverage of the January 2026 federal environmental-law package.
Instrument details
Instrument: New federal Agricultural Quarantine Law (issued within the UAE's January 2026 package of federal environmental and biodiversity laws).
Repeals: Federal Law No. (5) of 1979 Concerning Agricultural Quarantine.
Administering authority: Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE).
Scope: Plants, plant products, seeds, beneficial organisms and other regulated articles imported into, exported from or transiting the UAE.
Standard: Aligned with the current International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC).
Penalties: Fines up to AED 500,000; mandatory deportation for repeat foreign offenders.
The enacted Arabic text prevails. Detailed procedures are set by MOCCAE implementing decisions; confirm exact commencement, transition arrangements and article references against the official gazette before acting.
Based on the UAE's new federal Agricultural Quarantine Law and cross-checked against leading practitioner analyses. General information only — it does not constitute legal advice, and the enacted Arabic text prevails. For advice on a specific matter, please contact us. Last updated: 2 July 2026.