Arabic on-pack requirements in the GCC: what must be printed, and where

Ten mandatory label elements, the right-to-left traps that get artwork rejected, and the importer-name problem nobody plans for.

Arabic labelling is not a translation task. It is a layout task with legal consequences: a reversed ingredient list, a font too small to read at shelf, or a missing importer name can hold a container at the border while you pay storage.

The ten elements that must be printed

1. Product name and function, in Arabic
2. Full ingredient list — INCI Latin names, with Arabic common names alongside
3. Net content by weight or volume
4. Manufacturer name and address
5. Importer name and address in the destination country
6. Batch number
7. Production and expiry dates, or the period-after-opening symbol
8. Directions for use
9. Warnings and precautions
10. Country of origin

Missing any of the first seven is a routine rejection. The last three are checked less often and penalised harder when they are wrong, because they touch safety and claims rather than logistics.

Bilingual, not Arabic-only

Saudi Arabia requires Arabic as the primary label language; English may appear alongside it. The UAE permits Arabic and English in parallel. In both markets an English-only carton is non-compliant, and so is an Arabic block that has been shrunk to a size no one can read.

The layout that works: Arabic first — upper block on a horizontal panel, right-hand column on a vertical one — with English beneath or beside it. Reviewers notice when the Arabic has been squeezed to fit the English in.

Right-to-left traps that get artwork rejected

• Mixed direction inside the ingredient list. The list reads right to left, but INCI names are Latin and read left to right. Set the Latin runs as isolated left-to-right segments, or the punctuation jumps to the wrong end of the line.
• Bracket flipping. Parentheses mirror in a right-to-left context. Use directional isolate characters around percentages so "(2%)" does not render as "(%2)".
• Numerals. Arabic-Indic digits and Western digits are both legal. Gulf retail packaging overwhelmingly uses Western digits. Pick one and apply it to the whole label; mixing them inside a batch code is a common defect.
• Units. Print both scripts: "50 ml / ٥٠ مل".
• Diacritics. Do not strip them to save space. A word without its marks can read as a different word, and ingredient names are exactly where that matters.

Font and size

There is no single GCC-wide minimum point size, but reviewers apply a readability test, and in practice ingredient text below roughly 6 pt or 1.2 mm cap height gets queried. Use a proper Arabic text face: Noto Naskh Arabic, Cairo, Tajawal, IBM Plex Sans Arabic. Decorative calligraphic faces belong on the front panel, never on the ingredient block.

The importer name problem

This is the most common first-shipment failure. Packaging is printed before the importer is appointed, so the importer line is either blank or carries a distributor who is replaced three weeks later.

Three ways out:

• Reserve a blank panel of roughly 60 by 25 mm and over-sticker the importer name at destination.
• Print the importer name only after the appointment is confirmed, and accept the extra lead time.
• Have us apply the sticker at our facility once you give us the name. We can hold a run for a week for this.

Check first whether the destination permits over-stickering at all. Some markets allow it for the importer block only, and not for ingredients or dates.

Claims in Arabic carry the same burden as claims in English

"Paraben free", خالٍ من البارابين, needs a formulation that supports it across every batch, not just the pilot. "Hypoallergenic" has no agreed definition in the GCC and invites a query. "Halal" requires a certificate from a recognised body; it cannot be printed because the formula happens to avoid ethanol and animal derivatives.

What we deliver with the artwork

• Arabic label layout in editable vector format, set by a native Arabic speaker rather than machine translated
• Element-by-element check against the SFDA and ESMA label lists
• A reserved importer block, unless you give us the name up front
• A bilingual ingredient table with INCI and Arabic common names cross-checked against the formula
• Date and batch coding proofed on the actual filling line, not on a PDF

Send us your existing artwork and we will mark it against the list before you commit to a print run. That review takes a day. Reprinting cartons takes three weeks.