A Bilingual Arabic-English Tea Box for the GCC: What GSO Labelling Requires

Two recent private label enquiries, one from Jordan and one from Saudi Arabia, specified the same thing: Arabic and English on the pack. For the Gulf that is not a preference but a rule, and the rule has a shape. This article sets out what the GCC labelling standard asks for on a prepacked tea and how to plan the artwork so the first print is the right one.

Arabic is the language of the label

GSO 9, the Gulf Standardization Organization's standard for labelling prepackaged foodstuffs, requires the mandatory information on a food pack to appear in Arabic. English or another language may be added alongside it; it may not replace it. And the Arabic is not a summary — it has to be complete and equivalent to whatever the other language says of the mandatory particulars.

In Saudi Arabia the standard is applied by the SFDA, which adopts it and adds its own requirements; other GCC members apply it through their own authorities. For a brand owner the practical point is the same everywhere: the Arabic version of the label is the one that has to be right, and the English sits beside it.

The particulars

The mandatory information follows the familiar structure of a food label. The product name. The list of ingredients in descending order of proportion, with additives named as permitted. Net content. The name and address of the manufacturer, packer or importer as the responsible party. The country of origin, stated clearly and in a way that cannot be removed. Date marking in the prescribed form. Storage instructions where the product needs them. A lot identification.

For a tea box that is not a long list, but every item of it has to be present in Arabic and laid out legibly. Nutrition and other supplementary rules applied by the national authority are checked against the destination at the start of the project rather than assumed.

Artwork is not translation

The mistake to avoid is treating the Arabic box as the English box translated. Arabic runs right to left, takes different space and has its own typographic conventions; the mandatory particulars have to be placed so that both versions are complete and readable, and the panel has to be designed for two directions of reading.

Translation of mandatory particulars is a compliance task. The ingredient list, the origin statement and the date form are checked against the standard, not against marketing copy, and the check happens before the files go to print. Getting it wrong is expensive in the simplest way: a carton reprint.

Who is responsible

Under the national authority's rules the importer, or whichever party is named on the pack, is responsible for the label. The packer produces the box to the artwork that party approves. In practice the brand owner, the importer and the packer work from one checklist, so that what is printed is what the importer can register and clear at the border. The checklist is short; agreeing it at the brief is what keeps it short.

Where we sit

We produce string-and-tag bags, each individually enveloped, and the printed retail carton, to the artwork the brand and its importer approve. At the brief we put in writing which items carry which languages — carton, envelope, tag — so that the three print jobs are consistent. The importer's registration and the authority's supplementary requirements are checked at the start of the project, before the blend and the artwork are developed. Volumes and prices are confirmed at quotation.