Dubai: All packaged drinking water sold in the UAE will have to have a quality mark issued by the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (Esma) from the middle of next year, Gulf News has learnt.
The regulation, which has already been approved by the UAE cabinet, is designed to tackle drinking water and all materials that come in contact with drinking water from one end to the other.
“We are taking a holistic approach in tackling the issue of drinking water. We want to make sure all water that is sold as drinking water in the market is actually fit for drinking. We are also looking at different materials that come in contact with drinking water, such as coolers, bottles, containers, tankers and pipelines to make sure these materials don’t contaminate drinking water,” said Mohammad Saleh Badri, Director-General of Esma.
According to Esma around 95 companies are currently marketing and manufacturing drinking water in the UAE and all of them will have to comply with the new standards before the end of the first quarter of 2014.
“We are in touch with the firms and are explaining to them the new law and the standards that we have put in place. All drinking water firms should register with us and comply with the stipulated standards after which we will issue the quality mark for their bottles. Without the quality marks no water bottles will be allowed to be sold in the market,” warned Badri.
Most drinking water bottles that are labelled ‘mineral water’ are not actually mineral water and the new law will force the manufacturers to ascertain the source of water, the treatment process as well as the material used for packaging.
“Apart from a few manufacturers which operate from the bigger emirates, most of the water bottling firms that run their business from the smaller emirates are not properly monitored. With the new law in place from mid next year all firms will have to comply with one set of standards. They will also have to clearly state the source of the water such as mineral, spring, desalinated or groundwater and the process that water went through,” said Badri.
As well as looking at the health aspects, which ensures the materials used do not contaminate the water, the law also takes care of the environment in making sure that the plastic or any other material used for packaging is degradable.
Esma is working with local authorities to implement the new law.
“Most of the municipalities have some system of monitoring the drinking water industry. What we are trying to do is to improve and unify. The implementation of the law will be done in coordination with local municipalities and any violation will attract fines between Dh10,000 to Dh100,000 depending on the severity of the cases,” said Badri.
Esma is also working with various customs authorities to implement the law and make sure non-compliant water bottles do not enter the UAE.
The law covers all types of water bottles and water-based products such as ice and all companies will have until March 2014 to comply with the new regulations.
