GS1 UAE, in partnership with the UAE Food Cluster, today announced at the Future Food Forum 2025 the Universal Product Catalog (UPC) — a groundbreaking platform designed to transform product data sharing and management across the nation’s food and beverage ecosystem.
Developed under the umbrella and patronage of the Ministry of Economy & Tourism, the UPC is a private sector-led initiative that aligns with the UAE government’s Zero Government Bureaucracy program. The platform represents a major step in digitalization and interoperability, enabling manufacturers, retailers, and regulators to manage, share, and verify product information seamlessly.
The Universal Product Catalog will serve as a central repository where companies upload their master product data — including brand name, nutritional information, ingredients, product images, GTIN (barcode), and country of origin. This data will be synchronized across multiple stakeholders, such as online marketplaces, retailers, customs, municipalities, Ministry of Industry & Advanced Technology, Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Federal Tax Authority, ZAD, and QCC Abu Dhabi.
Through GS1 standards and AI-powered digital tools, the UPC will create a “digital twin” of every physical product, offering a single source of truth for the UAE food industry. This ensures consistency, reduces redundancy, and enhances traceability throughout the supply chain.
The UPC will significantly strengthen traceability and fraud prevention, creating a centralized barcode registry that helps regulators track products throughout the supply chain while flagging unauthorized imports and non-compliant goods at entry points. It is set to improve product quality and consumer safety by ensuring up-to-date and verified product information is available for both regulators and consumers, who can scan a barcode to instantly access details on nutrition, origin, and authenticity.
In addition, the platform will deliver greater regulatory and market efficiency by introducing a one-stop registration process that eliminates duplicate submissions across multiple agencies, saving time and costs for businesses. It will also support price monitoring and control, enabling a transparent database for essential commodities. The UPC will deliver a measurable economic impact by reducing revenue losses, strengthening brand protection, and boosting confidence in UAE-made products in local and international markets.
At full scale, the UPC is expected to host at least 80,000 products and reduce redundant listing and application processes by up to 60%. By harmonizing regulations across Emirates, it will significantly improve regulatory enforcement and boost food safety.
The initiative builds on GS1 UAE’s proven track record of delivering large-scale, industry-wide digital solutions. GS1 UAE has partnered with the Federal Tax Authority since 2019 for excise tax product registration and has had success in the UAE healthcare sector — integrating GS1-based solutions with hospitals, health authorities, and regulators like Dubai Health and Department of Health. These proven successes demonstrate the scalability and reliability of GS1’s standards, and now the UAE food ecosystem will benefit from replicating these best practices.
Beyond compliance, the UPC will open new opportunities like advanced market analytics, centralized price tracking tools, and even consumer-facing apps to verify authenticity or report concerns — shaping a future-ready digital ecosystem for food in the UAE.
“The Universal Product Catalog is more than a database — it’s a strategic enabler of efficiency, transparency, and consumer confidence,” said Rami Habbal, CEO of GS1 UAE. “By reducing bureaucracy and digitizing compliance, we are creating a resilient and future-ready food ecosystem for the UAE. Through GS1 standards, we are also catalysing traceability, digitalization, and global best practices that support the UAE’s ambition to become a leading food innovation hub. These tools strengthen collaboration across the entire value chain — from farmers and manufacturers to retailers and regulators — ensuring trust, safety, and growth for the industry.”
