Bonded stores and ship’s stores in the UAE: what the rules say

The IMO Facilitation (FAL) Convention defines ship’s stores as goods for use in the ship, including consumables, goods carried for sale to passengers and crew, fuel and lubricants — but excluding ship’s equipment and spare parts. They are declared on the Ship’s Stores Declaration (formerly FAL Form 3), the standard declaration on arrival and departure. IMO’s compendium explains its purpose: to allow temporary import of the stores and their re-export, because in most cases the goods are bought free of duties and taxes for consumption in international waters.^[1,2]

"Bonded stores" is the trade name for the dutiable part — tobacco, liquor and similar goods supplied without duty for consumption on board, often sold to crew through the slop chest. Spares in transit are not stores at all and move under their own paperwork.

The UAE applies the GCC Common Customs Law. Its article 30(d) requires the shipmaster, when the ship enters the harbour, to submit to customs the cargo manifest and "the manifest of the ship’s supplies (logistics) and the crew’s baggage and belongings", with the passenger list and documents customs may require. Article 86 permits national and foreign vessels to obtain all necessary marine equipment from the free zones; article 96 allows, in certain cases, goods not placed in customs warehouses to be withdrawn from the wharves to the ships under conditions set by the director general.^[3]

We read the law’s exemptions chapter (articles 98–106): it covers diplomatic, military, personal, charitable and returned goods, and no article exempts ship’s stores or supplies of means of transport by name. The implementing rules leave "normal requirements of goods" for consumption within the customs zone to be specified by a decision of the customs administration — a decision we did not find published.^[3]

Tax law is more specific. The UAE Excise Tax executive regulation exempts excise goods not released for consumption in the State where "the purpose of the Export is to consume the Excise Goods in the course of an international journey departing from the State", provided they are moved to the point of export in suspension under customs legislation; the exporter keeps a customs declaration and commercial or official evidence of export. The VAT executive regulation zero-rates goods "supplied for use or consumption or sale by or on an aircraft or a ship" in respect of international transport. Both English texts are labelled unofficial translations.^[4,5,6]

At Fujairah the port’s 2026 tariff lists a bonded stores list (two copies) among a calling vessel’s arrival documents, and notes that customs duty is payable on all goods imported into the country.^[7]

Dubai Customs’ published policies (2005–2008) contain no policy on ship’s stores, sea stores, ship spares, supply to vessels or chandlers; the GCC unified guide for customs procedures at first points of entry deals with vessel manifests, not stores; and Dubai Maritime Authority’s 2025 resolution on commercial maritime activities lists salvage, diving, dredging, towing and similar work, not ship chandling. We found no public UAE text on:^[8,9,10]

• duty-free quantities or daily crew allowances for tobacco and liquor;
• how close to sailing bonded stores may be delivered, or whether they must be sealed in port;
• which declaration or permit type a chandler files for stores to a vessel;
• licensing of ship chandlers to hold or supply bonded goods.

That does not mean there are no rules — it means they are applied through customs systems, warehouse licences and port practice rather than a public page. Commercial "free zone set-up" guides make claims about chandler licences; we have not repeated them because they are not official.

Singapore Customs defines sea stores as goods supplied for consumption or use on board by crew or passengers outside Singapore waters, and publishes the operating rules in full. Non-dutiable stores may go to any vessel; dutiable stores only to approved vessel types, from passenger and cargo ships to tugs and supply boats.^[11]

• Sea stores may not be delivered earlier than 24 hours before departure.^[11]
• Once delivered they are locked in a store, stay locked within port limits, and may not be consumed in port.^[11]
• Suppliers of dutiable stores lodge a security, declare under procedure code SEASTORE on named permit types, and file a monthly statement by the 15th.^[11]
• Ship spares are not sea stores and need their own GST permits.^[11]

Since the operating rules are not public, make the supplier state them in the quotation. Ask:

• Under which customs procedure and document will the bonded lines be supplied, and will the ship receive a copy?
• Is the supplier licensed to hold and release goods under suspension at this port, and from which warehouse?
• Are there quantity limits per crew member or per voyage that customs will apply to this order?
• How late before sailing can bonded stores be delivered, and must they be sealed until the ship leaves port limits?
• Is the price quoted excluding excise and with VAT zero-rated — and what evidence of export does the supplier need from the ship?
• Does the port agent need the bonded stores list before arrival (Fujairah lists it among arrival documents)?^[7]

Put bonded lines on their own list, separate from provisions and deck stores — they move on different paperwork and often from a different warehouse. The rest of the order follows our requisition guide; for a ship at anchor see anchorage delivery off Fujairah and Khor Fakkan. Suppliers on GeoMarineHub quote bonded lines against your list like any other line — e-mail the requisition or post it.