General Trading licence
Ajman NuVentures Centre Licence for General Trading
A general trading licence permits a broad range of unrelated goods on one licence rather than a named list. It is the most flexible commercial category and it costs more than a standard commercial licence, which is the trade.
In short
A general trading licence permits buying and selling a broad range of unrelated goods under one licence. It costs more than a standard commercial licence with named activities, and in most zones it sits outside the normal activity allowance.
- Licence type
- Commercial, general trading category
- Licence from
- AED 4,888
- With one visa
- AED 10,800
- Outside approval
- Not usually
Figures on this page were last checked on 2026-10-04. Government fees can change without notice.
What this licence covers
The activity list is what the licence actually permits. Everything else follows from it.
Included
- Import, export and re-export of goods
- Wholesale across unrelated product categories
- Holding stock inside the zone
- Selling to customers outside the UAE
- Supplying UAE customers through a distributor
Not included
- Retail to UAE consumers from a shop
- Any activity needing a professional qualification
- Regulated goods without the relevant approval
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Approvals and the customs position
The two things that move a timeline from weeks to months.
Outside approvals
No external regulator for ordinary goods. Food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, chemicals, tobacco, weapons and anything controlled each carry their own authority approval and cannot be traded on the licence alone.
Customs
Goods held inside the zone sit outside UAE customs territory until they enter the mainland. That is what makes consolidation and re-export efficient. Bringing goods into the UAE market is a domestic import handled by a mainland importer.
Banking this activity
Compliance teams assess activities differently. This is how yours reads to them.
The hardest activity to bank. Compliance teams see a broad licence with unspecified counterparties and cannot document the expected flows. Apply with a narrow, honest description of what you actually trade, supported by contracts, invoices or purchase orders.
Where people go wrong
- Taking general trading when three named activities would cover the trade for less
- Assuming the licence covers regulated goods
- Applying to a bank with no contracts to evidence the trade
- Forgetting the mainland importer in a UAE facing model
Traders moving genuinely unrelated product categories, or anyone whose product mix changes faster than a licence amendment can keep up with.
Other activities in Ajman NuVentures Centre
The licence category changes what you can do, what it costs and who has to approve it.
One number, in writing
Tell us what you are setting up
Fill in the form and we pass your details to the right licensing partner for your case. They come back with one itemised price covering the licence, the visa, the government fees and VAT. If Ajman NuVentures Centre is the wrong answer for your business, you will be told that instead.
No call centre, no cold calling, and nothing shared with anybody until you press send.
Free written quote
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