DMCC activity register
Trading licence activities in DMCC
The short answer
DMCC's Trading licence family covers companies that buy, sell, import, export or distribute physical goods, from General Trading through to goods-specific activities such as Acids & Alkalines Trading, Adhesives Trading, Advertising Requisites Trading and Agarwood & Incense Trading. It sits alongside DMCC's separate Service licence, which DMCC reserves for professional and consultancy work rather than the movement of goods. Exactly which activities a given company can combine, and what that combination costs, are confirmed during DMCC's own application process rather than set out generically.
DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre) runs a Trading licence family covering 385 of the roughly 973 activities on its register. DMCC's own guidance defines the Trading licence as designed for businesses involved in importing, exporting, distributing, or selling goods — as distinct from the Service licence, which is for professional or consultancy work such as advisory, IT services, and other specialised expertise. General Trading sits within this family as a single, broad activity alongside hundreds of named, goods-specific activities such as Acids & Alkalines Trading, Adhesives Trading, Advertising Requisites Trading and Agarwood & Incense Trading.
A concrete example helps: a founder applying under 'Agarwood & Incense Trading', one of the named activities in DMCC's Trading family, is running a goods business — buying, importing or distributing agarwood and incense products — rather than a consultancy. The same requirements that apply to any Trading company apply here: a registered address in JLT, employee visas tied to the size and type of that office rather than a flat number, and UBO information kept current with DMCC. Agarwood and incense sit outside DMCC's named gold, diamonds, energy and coffee ecosystems, so no extra commodity framework attaches. A founder trading gold or diamonds under the same Trading family instead steps into that commodity's own ecosystem and compliance layer — the UAE Good Delivery standard for gold, the System of Warranties for diamonds — on top of the standard Trading requirements.
DMCC's identity is built around specific commodities rather than trading in the abstract. Gold and precious metals trading inside DMCC sits under the UAE Good Delivery (UAEGD) standard for responsible sourcing, refining and distribution, with the UAE Ministry of Economy holding federal regulatory authority over the sector; DMCC itself provides vaulting (via Brink's Global Services), the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX), and DMCC Tradeflow for trade finance. Diamond trading carries its own compliance layer: the System of Warranties (SoW) must be affixed to every invoice or memo when a diamond changes hands, as corporate confirmation that the stone complies with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which the UAE joined in 2003. Taking a Trading licence in one of these named categories means taking on the relevant commodity framework, not just the general licence.
A registered business address inside DMCC — a flexi-desk, serviced office, or dedicated workspace across its Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) towers — is mandatory for every company, and DMCC ties the number of employee visas a company can apply for to the size of that office space and the type of licence held, rather than to a flat allocation per licence. Qualifying income can draw the UAE's 0% Corporate Tax rate available to free zone companies, and every DMCC company has to provide and maintain Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) information under UAE AML/CFT rules, covering anyone with 25% or more ownership or control, updated whenever that changes.
Velarozone advises on company setup across UAE free zones; it does not issue the licence or decide which activities a DMCC Trading company can combine — that sits with DMCC itself. For how an advisory firm fits into that process without standing in for the authority, see [why Velarozone](/why-velarozone).
What the Trading classification covers
Activities in this family describe buying, selling, importing, exporting, and distributing physical goods. Each register entry names a product category — spare parts, building materials, foodstuffs, equipment — and the licence covers the named category, not goods in general.
That specificity is the point of the register. A licence that says one product category does not quietly cover another, and the description on the licence is what a bank, a customs officer, or a counterparty reads first.
What a trading licence here is structured for
A licence built from this family suits a business whose revenue comes from goods changing hands: import and re-export, wholesale, distribution, or online retail of physical products.
The activity wording should match what you will actually invoice for. Where your product range spans several register categories, the honest licence carries several activities — leaving one off to simplify the application is the mistake that surfaces later at the bank or at renewal.
From the register
Activities in this family, by name
A sample of the 385 activities DMCC files under Trading, exactly as the register names them. Activity names are the authority's own wording and are shown in English in every language; register codes are not published.
- General Trading
- Acids & Alkalines Trading
- Adhesives Trading
- Advertising Requisites Trading
- Agarwood & Incense Trading
- Agricultural & Veterinary Pesticides Trading
- Agricultural Equipment & Accessories Trading
- Agricultural Equipment & Machinery Spare Parts Trading
- Agricultural Tools Trading
- Agricultural Tractors & Machinery Trading
- Air-Condition Trading
- Air-Condition, Refrigeration Spare Parts & Components Trading
- Aircraft Spare Parts & Components Trading
- Aircrafts & Helicopters Trading
- Airline Inflight Products Trading
- Airport Equipment Trading
- Animal & Birds Feed Trading
- Animal & Poultry Farms Equipment Trading
- Animal Fodder Supplements Trading
- Antennas Trading
- Aquariums & Display Cases Trading
- Aquatic & live Animals Trading
- Arab Wear Trading
- Artificial Flowers & Plants Trading
- Astronomy Equipment Trading
- Audio-visual, Recording Equipment & Accessories Trading
- Authentic Antiques, Artefacts & Artworks Trading
- Auto Accessories Trading
- Auto Spare Parts & components Trading
- Auto Washing Equipment Trading
What this page does not decide
Decision factors
What changes the answer
Three things sit alongside the Trading licence itself and shape how a company actually operates once DMCC issues it.
- Qualifying income is taxed at 0% under the UAE's Corporate Tax regime for free zone companies; income that falls outside the qualifying definition is not automatically exempt.
- Ultimate Beneficial Owner information, covering anyone with 25% or more ownership or control, must be filed with DMCC and kept current under UAE AML/CFT rules.
- Employee visa numbers are tied to the size and type of the registered office rather than fixed by the Trading licence itself.
- Commodity-specific frameworks, such as the UAE Good Delivery standard for gold or the System of Warranties for diamonds, apply on top of the general Trading licence for companies working in those categories.
Where this family is a strong fit
- Businesses that buy, sell, import, export or distribute physical goods, including general trading across unrelated product lines.
- Companies trading in a named DMCC commodity category — precious metals, diamonds and coloured gemstones, coffee, tea, energy — that want to be inside the ecosystem built around that trade.
- Firms that want a registered presence in Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT), DMCC's established commercial district.
- Businesses comfortable taking on the compliance layer attached to a specific commodity, such as the System of Warranties for diamonds or the UAE Good Delivery standard for gold.
Where it is the wrong family
- Firms whose work is advisory, consultancy or another professional service rather than the movement of goods — that falls under DMCC's separate Service licence.
- Businesses looking for a fixed, licence-wide visa number rather than one set by office size and type.
- Companies planning to trade diamonds or precious metals who are not prepared to meet the commodity-specific compliance frameworks attached to those categories, such as the System of Warranties or the UAE Good Delivery standard.
- Businesses whose core work mixes goods and professional services roughly evenly — whether that sits under Trading, Service, or needs both is a question for DMCC's own activity check, not a generic answer.
- Anyone expecting a single activity combination and a single cost to be stated generically, rather than confirmed against DMCC's current activity list.
About this listing
Questions
Frequently asked
- What counts as a DMCC Trading activity?
- Any activity involving the buying, selling, importing, exporting or distribution of physical goods, from broad General Trading to a specific goods category named on DMCC's activity list.
- How does the Trading licence differ from DMCC's Service licence?
- DMCC's own guidance separates the two by what the business actually does: Trading covers the movement of goods, while Service covers professional and consultancy work such as advisory or IT services.
- My business sells a product but also installs or supports it — is that Trading or Service?
- DMCC draws the line by core activity rather than by industry: Trading covers the goods side, Service the professional or consultancy side. A business that genuinely does both needs that combination checked against DMCC's current activity list during the application, rather than assumed from either description alone.
- Does the Trading licence cover gold, diamonds or coffee specifically?
- Those are activities within the Trading family, but each carries its own layer of rules on top of the licence, such as the UAE Good Delivery standard for gold and the System of Warranties for diamonds, rather than being covered by the general licence alone.
- How many visas come with a DMCC Trading licence?
- DMCC sets the number of employee visas a company can apply for according to the size and type of its registered office, rather than attaching a fixed number to the Trading licence itself.
- Does a DMCC Trading company pay corporate tax?
- Qualifying income can draw the UAE's 0% Corporate Tax rate available to free zone companies, though income that falls outside the qualifying definition is treated differently.
Check where this activity can be licensed
Velarozone can run the activity check against DMCC's current Trading list and advise on the setup that fits, without issuing anything on DMCC's behalf.
This page is general information about UAE business setup, not legal, tax, immigration, or banking advice. Rules, fees, permitted activities, and bank policies can change. Final eligibility depends on your facts and the applicable rules at the time of application.