President H.H. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued Federal Law No. (13) of 2007 on commodities that are subject to import and export control procedures which is effective on September 1, 2007. The new law authorizes the concerned authorities to ban or restrict the importing, exporting and re-exporting of any commodity for reasons related to safety, public health, environment, natural resources, national security, or for reasons related to the U.A.E.'s foreign policy, taking into account any restrictions which may currently be imposed on those commodities by laws already in effect and by the existing powers of the concerned authorities, and in compliance with the international treaties the U.A.E. ratified or joined. The new law aims to standardize such procedures throughout the U.A.E., since geographically limited procedures would not provide the desired result of banning or restricting a particular commodity and because varying or different control procedures would disrupt trade in the country as a whole.

The new law authorizes the cabinet to order the establishment of a new control body to be known as the National Commission for Commodities Subject to Import, Export and Re-export Control. A representative from the Ministry of Economy shall be the head of the new commission, whose membership will include representatives from other concerned federal ministries, bodies and the private sector. Provision of chapter (1) of the new law includes the general framework for the issuance of import and export licenses, period set to consider applications and any complaints from applicants against decisions by the relevant body to cancel licenses. Chapter 2 of the new law regulates the procedures aimed at controlling the import and export of strategic commodities as well as the export and re-export of technological commodities, in addition to the brokerage of imports.