February 13, 2013

United Arab Emirates to export dairy products to EU

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Dubai have received final approval from the European Commission as per Commission Regulation (EU) No 605/2010 to become the first country in the Middle East to export dairy products to the EU.

This was announced by the Emirates Industry for Camel Milk & Products (EICMP), producer of the leading camel milk products 'Camelicious'.

The EU Commission ratified the camel milk safety plan presented by EICMP (Camelicious) and confirmed its compliance to the EU's food safety and health guidelines, making Camelicious the first Middle Eastern dairy factory to export its products to the 27-country Eurozone. EICMP's achievement was a result of the close and fruitful cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW) and Dubai Municipality, both of whose support was crucial during the five-year-long process, issuing and amending regulations and guidelines to comply with those of the EU Commission with respect to camel milk production as well as health and safety guidelines in the food manufacturing industry.

The approval comes after several rounds of inspections made by EU Commission delegates to the EICMP (Camelicious) factory as well as audits to the guidelines and requirements of MOEW and Dubai Municipality. EICMP (Camelicious) has, over the past five years, worked diligently on accomplishing this important objective, which reflects positively on the nation as well as the company. These include: obtaining international standards and regulations such as ISO 22000 and HACCP; attracting world-class experts from the Eurozone in the field of public health and safety; investing in highly-advanced food manufacturing and safety technologies; and cooperating with international and local laboratories to analyse a large number of milk samples for residue, heavy metals, and microbiology. These tests, carried out in cooperation with MOEW and the Dubai Central Laboratory of the Dubai Municipality, consistently proved the safety and quality of the 'Camelicious' milk. Results were regularly shared to the EU Commission to verify compliance with export standards.

Mutasher Al-Badry, Deputy General Manager & Business Development Manager at EICMP (Camelicious) commented on the achievement saying, "Camel milk is, without a doubt, one of the best dairy products in the world because of its exceptional health and nutritional value. The EU Commission's approval for the export of Camelicious products is a stamp of approval to the quality standards of the UAE in general, and to our company in particular. International research on camel milk has resulted in increased global demand for the product, and we will be taking steps to boost production in order to meet that demand, both regionally and globally. We also have plans to partner with international companies to utilise camel milk in other areas such as medicine, beauty products, and specialised foods because of its great benefits."

EICMP was established in 2003 and launched its first product in 2006. It is the largest camel milk farm and factory in the world, housing a herd of about 3,000 happy and healthy camels and employing world-class standards to produce the highest-quality camel milk in the world.