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A general trading license Dubai importers and resellers ask about lets one company buy and sell a wide range of unrelated goods, instead of the few groups on an ordinary trading licence. In Dubai, Dubai CommerCity, DWTC Free Zone, Jafza and Expo City all list a general trading licence. Two of them print the fee: Jafza at AED 15,000 a year in its New Company Formation guide, and Expo City at AED 25,000 a year on its fee list.
Trading licence or general trading licence
Zones draw the line in different places. KEZAD in Abu Dhabi calls a licence general trading once it holds more than 17 items or more than 3 activity groups. Jafza splits its trading licences into three types: Type 1 with up to 7 activities from one group, Type 2 with up to 12 from two or more groups, and Type 3 with unlimited activities from three or more groups.
Ajman Free Zone works the other way round. Its general trading licence carries a single activity that covers all goods except diesel, oil, crude oil, cars and garments. If you want more activities, you change to a commercial trade licence with one, two or three activities.
So before you compare prices, check what "general trading" means at each zone and whether your goods are inside it. Some goods also need approval from a product regulator on top of the licence. Ask the zone which apply to yours.
Free zones that issue a general trading licence
| Free zone | What is published |
|---|---|
| Dubai CommerCity | General Trading licence type, no prices on the site; agencies quote a smart desk package at AED 27,545 to AED 28,000 |
| DWTC Free Zone | General Trading licence type, no licence fee on the site; agencies put a licence alone at AED 12,000 |
| Jafza | General Trading licence AED 15,000 a year, licence only, on Jafza's fee table |
| Expo City Dubai | General Trading licence AED 25,000 a year |
| SPC Free Zone (Sharjah) | Standard licence from AED 6,875, covering trading, consulting and commercial activities, no visa |
| SRTI Park (Sharjah) | SPARK Starter AED 3,999, one shareholder, up to 3 activities mixing general trading and standard, limited time |
| KEZAD (Abu Dhabi) | New licence fee AED 0; general trading renewal AED 15,000 per 2 years |
| RAKEZ | General Trading licence type, price not split out |
| Ajman Free Zone | General trading licence, one activity, price not published |
| UAQ Free Trade Zone | General Trading licence type, price not published |
Source: zone licence pages, Jafza New Company Formation guide, Expo City fee list dated April , KEZAD tariffs page, SPC and SRTI Park package pages, checked .
For UAQ FTZ, setup agencies publish packages at about AED 5,500 to AED 32,400 (published prices of 4 agencies, checked ). The top of that range is a general trading estimate with registration, co-working, establishment card, e-channel and a two-year visa.
General trading license cost in Dubai
Expo City's fee list shows how much the licence type alone moves the price:
| Expo City licence | Licence fee a year |
|---|---|
| Service or Commercial, one group | AED 10,000 |
| Two groups | AED 13,000 |
| Industrial or Logistics | AED 15,000 |
| General Trading | AED 25,000 |
Source: ECDA Fees and Service Charges List dated April , linked from Expo City pages, checked . The list says prices are subject to change.
Jafza's table makes the same point. A Trading licence with one activity group is AED 5,000 a year and one with two groups AED 8,500, while General Trading is AED 15,000. Each activity beyond your tier adds AED 500. That AED 15,000 is the licence line only. Registration, the lease and visas are separate. The two agencies that publish full first-year Jafza estimates put them at about AED 40,000 to AED 60,000 (published prices of 2 agencies, checked ) with a desk or workstation and one visa.
KEZAD shows the gap at renewal. A trading or service licence renews for AED 5,000 per two years, while general trading renews for AED 15,000.
Space for goods
A general trader often needs somewhere to keep stock. Published rents:
- Jafza warehouses from AED 400 per sq m
- SPC storage and warehouse space from AED 480 per sqm
- KEZAD serviced industrial plots at AED 32 to AED 38 per sq m a year
If you only broker deals and never touch the goods, a desk may do. Ask the zone whether your licence needs a minimum space.
Dubai general trading license activities and the mainland
Goods imported into a free zone pay 0% customs duty, and duty falls due when they cross into the mainland, says the u.ae portal. That page also sets the rule for local sales: your free zone company reaches UAE buyers through a mainland distributor holding its own licence, or through a mainland branch or company of yours.
Dubai opened two shortcuts in . The DET permit for free zone firms costs AED 5,000 and lasts up to six months, with trading listed among the first activities allowed. A yearly branch licence, run from your free zone premises, costs AED 10,000. CommerCity companies can ask for the zone's dual licence instead.
A full mainland general trading licence comes from Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism. We have not checked its fees. Read free zone vs mainland and our trade license Dubai page to compare.
VAT matters more for traders than for most. The FTA lists certain fenced, customs-controlled zones as designated zones, and goods moving within them can count as outside the UAE for VAT. Check your zone's status before you price imports.
Steps
- List the goods by category and check them against the zone's activity list.
- Pick the licence type that covers them, and the space you need.
- Submit the application, passports and proposed names.
- Sign the lease or desk agreement and pay the fees.
- Receive the licence, then apply for the establishment card and visas.
- Open a bank account and register for corporate tax within three months.
- Register with customs and any product regulator your goods need.
Documents
- Passports and photos of the owners and the manager
- Residence visa page or Emirates ID for anyone already living in the UAE
- Your goods list mapped to activity codes, and two or three name options
- The signed lease or desk agreement
- If a company owns the shares: its incorporation certificate, constitution, a board resolution and an ownership chart
Jafza also lists an EHS policy undertaking and UBO KYC documents for its companies.
If you are still choosing a zone for trading, best free zone for trading compares them by fit, and Jafza covers the port-side option in detail.
Request quotes
Put your goods list and visa count into the form here. UAEFreeZoneDirectory.com lists free zones independently; it does not issue licences and no zone or authority runs it. A licensed setup partner or the zone itself replies with the figures.
Sources
- Jafza trading licence types and starting fee
- Jafza setup time and documents
- Jafza warehouse rent
- CommerCity licence types
- DWTC licence types
- Expo City licence fees
- KEZAD general trading definition
- KEZAD licence, renewal and land fees
- Ajman Free Zone general trading rules
- UAQ FTZ licence types
- RAKEZ licence types
- SPC Standard licence
- SRTI Park SPARK Starter
- Mainland sales and customs duty
- Dubai Executive Council Resolution No. 11 (PDF on dlp.dubai.gov.ae): mainland permit and branch licence
- Jafza New Company Formation guide: licence fee table, including General Trading
- BusinessDubai CommerCity guide and Virtuzone CommerCity page: CommerCity agency packages
- Emirabiz DWTC page and Safe Ledger DWTC guide: DWTC agency licence fee
- Jafza first-year estimate
- SafeLedger UAQ cost guide and Arnifi UAQ cost guide: UAQ FTZ agency prices
