São Paulo – The senior officer of the cosumable materials area of the Public Health & Safety Department of Dubai, Anas Abdul Raheem Al Khalifa, sees good business opportunities between Brazil and the United Arab Emirates in the cosmetics sector. He is in São Paulo this week to discuss regulation and procedures for liberation of sector product sales in his country.
On Thursday (22), Khalifa participated in a meeting with sector companies, organized by the Brazilian Association of Toiletries, Perfumes & Cosmetics Industries (Abihpec), on Friday (23) he visited the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, where he met the organisation’s CEO, Michel Alaby.
“We have practically the same regulation (Brazil and Dubai), which reduces technical barriers,” said Khalifa. That, according to him, opens doors for Brazilian companies to place their products in the Emirates and for companies from the Arab country to enter the Brazilian market, currently the second in the world for the sector, only behind that of the United Arab Emirates, according to Abihpec.
Khalifa informed that this similarity is due to the fact that both countries use the European standard for sector regulation. The differences, in his evaluation, are minor and are mostly regarding product shelf life – Dubai wants packages to include product expiration after opened – and bar codes, used for tracing the product origin.
“There are the same specifications for ingredient mix, the same ones are allowed [in both countries],” he said. “It is an opportunity for companies from the Emirates and Brazil,” he pointed out, adding that the perfume industry in the Emirates has become well known internationally. In Brazil, the beauty and personal hygiene sector is among those that grow most.
On Saturday (24), Khalifa should participate in the opening of the Hair Brasil fair, to take place in São Paulo. In late May, Brazilian companies are going to participate in the BeautyWorld Middle East, in Dubai.
*Translated by Mark Ament
