Dubai · June 2026
Licensing a general trading company in the UAE, done right the first time.
You want the broadest trading scope the UAE offers: one licence, many product lines, the freedom to import, export, and re-export. The licence is the easy part. The decision that defines the company is where you take it. Who you sell to sets the structure, and the words general trading do not, on their own, mean trade anything anywhere.
Free zone or Dubai mainland (DET), structured to your trade flows. Every case assessed by Manish.
DNFBP Registered
The widest scope the UAE issues, and exactly where it stops.
A general trading licence lets one company carry multiple unrelated product lines, the broadest trading scope available in the UAE. That breadth is why founders choose it: you are not boxed into a single category as your sourcing shifts, and you import, export, distribute, and re-export under one entity. Free zones such as DMCC, IFZA, and RAKEZ issue it with 100 percent foreign ownership; Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism issues the mainland version, which carries direct onshore selling rights.
The width is the appeal and the source of two traps that catch most new traders. First, the licence does not cover regulated goods. Food, pharmaceuticals, tobacco, alcohol, and medical devices each sit outside a plain general trading licence and need their own specific activity and an external approval. Second, where you can physically sell is set by jurisdiction, not the licence name: free zone stock cannot move straight onto the UAE mainland without import duty, typically around 5 percent, and a mainland channel. Both are structural decisions, far cheaper to resolve before the application than after the first order lands.
For the wider commercial picture, customs duty, banking scrutiny, and year-one cost ranges, see our general trading industry guide. This page is about getting the licence and the structure right.
Free zone or mainland is decided by where your buyers sit.
Most general trading structure decisions come down to one question, with two that follow. Work through them before you commit to a jurisdiction.
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Will you sell goods directly into the UAE mainland market, with local stock and onshore delivery?
Yes, mostly local UAE buyers → a mainland licence, or a free zone entity plus a mainland distributor or branch No, mostly international, regional, or re-export → a free zone fits: 100 percent ownership, no onshore complication -
Do any of your product lines include food, pharmaceuticals, tobacco, alcohol, or medical devices?
Yes → each needs its own specific activity and authority approval on top of the general trading licence No → a standard general trading licence covers your scope -
Will you import physical goods and clear them at the port in your company's name?
Yes → you need a customs importer code from the relevant customs authority; duty of around 5 percent applies on most goods entering the mainland No physical imports yet → the customs code is not required to start
If you need both onshore reach and international re-export, a free zone entity paired with a mainland channel is the common answer. We confirm which applies to your trade flows before any application.
From structure decision to a licence you can trade on.
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Stage 1
Structure and jurisdiction. We confirm whether free zone or mainland fits your trade flows, shortlist the right free zone, and flag any regulated-goods categories needing a separate activity and approval.
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Stage 2
Trade name and initial approval. The trade name is reserved and initial approval taken from the chosen authority, with the general trading activity and any added activities set correctly from the start.
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Stage 3
Licence issued. Documents and, on the mainland, the memorandum are finalised, and the general trading licence is issued by the free zone authority or DET.
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Stage 4
Visas, establishment card, and customs code. Residence visas and the immigration establishment card follow. Where you import physical goods, the customs importer code is applied for so you can clear shipments at the port.
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Stage 5
Corporate bank account. Prepared with a clear trade narrative: what you trade, where it comes from, who buys it. Trading accounts get a closer look at most UAE banks; preparation is what moves them forward.
The assumption that costs new traders the most.
What most founders believe
A general trading licence lets me trade anything, anywhere in the UAE.
The advisor's note: General trading is the widest scope the UAE issues, but it is neither a licence to sell every product nor a licence to sell everywhere. Two limits decide more setups than any cost line. Regulated categories, food, pharmaceuticals, tobacco, alcohol, and medical devices, each need their own specific activity and an external approval, so a founder who buys a general trading licence expecting to deal in one discovers a missing approval and, often, a licence amendment. And jurisdiction sets where you can physically sell: a free zone is excellent for import, export, and re-export, but free zone stock cannot move onto the UAE mainland without paying duty, around 5 percent, and routing through a mainland channel. Both are structural choices, not paperwork to fix later, and the moment to resolve them is before the application, not after the first order arrives.
The published Dubai mainland government fees.
The general trading commercial licence fee is activity and chamber driven, so it is costed against your exact structure, never quoted as one flat number. The discrete Dubai mainland (DET) government steps below are published and verified.
Published rates, Dubai mainland (DET)
Government fee steps, general trading setup
DET government-fee steps, verified for 2026 and current at the date of this page. The commercial licence fee is activity and chamber driven; free zone packages are quoted separately. Premium trade names carry annual surcharges. You receive a full breakdown scoped to your structure before you commit. Request a cost breakdown.
General trading sits in our Established engagement.
Most general trading cases come with related decisions: which free zone suits the product lines, whether a mainland channel is needed from day one, the customs code, and how the banking story holds. Handled together, by one advisor.
Established
For operating and growing companies: the licence, the structure, and the trade setup, coordinated by one advisor.
- Free zone or mainland structure confirmed before application
- General trading activity and any added activities set correctly
- Regulated-goods approvals identified and coordinated
- Customs importer code application managed
- Visas, establishment card, and bank account narrative prepared
Scoped to your structure and jurisdiction.
Plain answers on the general trading licence.
Does a general trading licence let me trade any product anywhere in the UAE?
Should I license general trading in a free zone or on the Dubai mainland?
What does it cost to license a general trading company in the UAE?
The Decision Path
Next: a short conversation confirming your jurisdiction, product scope, and what the licensing needs. Start the conversation.
Related: General trading: customs, duty, banking, and year-one cost
The structure question is the first thing we answer.
Tell us what you trade, where it comes from, and who buys it. We confirm the jurisdiction, activity scope, customs position, any regulated-goods approvals, and the banking narrative, in one conversation. No obligation.