Dubai: New federal regulations will ensure that all recreational and commercial drones sold in the UAE meet safe standardised technical requirements, said officials in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
In a statement, Abdullah Abdul Qader Al Maeeni, Director General of the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (Esma), confirmed that the UAE will begin from next month to implement the list of technical requirements for mandatory registration of drones that are used for recreational or commercial purposes.
“Traders and suppliers have three months to comply with the regulation in the UAE”. He said.
The UAE regulation is the first of its kind globally, he said.
Unsafe use of drones, he said, can obstruct air navigation, which threatens the safety of passengers at airports.
Dubai International Airport, for example, was briefly closed three times in 2016 due to drone intrusions.
Al Maeeni pointed out that the direct costs of violating airspace through unlicensed use of such drones may reach Dh350,000 per minute.
The board of directors of Esma approved in May a list of technical requirements for the registration of products and systems for drones, Ministerial Decision No. 43 of 2017, which stipulates that all products bear an explanatory mark and warning in the guidance manual and shall be in Arabic and English.
Requirements also include federal rules for safe operation, provided in accordance with the requirements of the General Authority for Civil Aviation, and the frequency of the aircraft shall be compatible with the frequencies.
Federal technical requirements developed by Esma will include the provision of a central mechanism to track any drone in the UAE markets or airspace through a serial number of the product.
All products must be certified by the manufacturer, bearing the factory’s signature and stamp, and include detailed information on the manufacturer’s address, brand, and classification of the purpose of using the drone, (commercial, industrial, recreational, service), as well as specifying the technical characteristics of the product in terms of weight and electromagnetic compatibility, and the property of satellite positioning, bandwidth, speed, and other details.
He pointed out that the producers and traders will be required starting from the beginning of next September, to submit a request for a product status statement to Esma.
All requests will be submitted via the Esma’s website.
Al Maeeni warned against the sale of these drones at the UAE level by offering products that are incompatible with the provisions of this resolution.
