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Groceries in Al Ain and the Western Region will sport a new look by July next year. Abu Dhabi has extended the deadline for groceries or 'baqalas' to comply with new standards.
Groceries have been given a one-year grace period till the end of July 2017 to rebuild their stores in line with baqala standards.
In cooperation with the MoI, the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, the Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (Added) have begun implementing the retail baqala standards and requirements in the rest of the emirate.
Abu Dhabi already introduced the modern standards a year ago. In Abu Dhabi, where the Baqala system is now functioning in line with international standards, of 1,366 groceries, 798 complied with the new standards while 620 were shut down as they failed to comply.
The new standards include an attractive standard shape that attracts consumers, sound and healthy storage of foodstuff in modern shelves, a standard staff uniform and a unified logo for all groceries in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
At a workshop, baqala owners were asked to provide large spaces inside their stores, according to approved regulations, to facilitate consumers' movement and install modern temperature-controlled shelves to display food and beverages.
In order to meet new standards, baqala owners will have to invest to refurbish the convenience stores.
Mohamed Munif Al Mansoori, executive director of the Added's Abu Dhabi Business Centre, said that a workshop was organised in Al Ain Municipality headquarters with more than 600 baqala owners in Al Ain to brief them on the standards and requirements of conducting retail business as applied in Abu Dhabi city.
He added that the project's first phase in Al Ain has already begun in June. Two introductory workshops were organised in Al Ain Municipality headquarters to introduce the approved regulations to baqala owners, consultants and contractors concerned with implementing these requirements.
Ahmed Tarish Al Qubaisi, acting director of the Added's commercial protection directorate, said that failure to comply with the new instructions and requirements within the one-year grace period would lead to store shutdowns.
Al Mansoori pointed out that the Supreme Committee which supervised the project implementation across Abu Dhabi city had faced some challenges, including implementation delay and misunderstanding of some key requirements and standards such as spaces and other technical specifications.
Rashed Al Shariqi, director-general of the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, said the project's key objectives are to raise baqala standards and specifications, improve the quality of service, create investment opportunities for UAE citizens and provide for an attractive environment for global retail companies in this sector as there is considerable demand for services provided by these stores to cater to the daily needs of consumers in terms of foods, drinks and other necessities.
Al Shariqi pointed out that the reasons behind regulating the retail sector were numerous, including inconsistency, poor interior and external look, traditional selling practices that are based on low operational costs in addition to poor compliance with best practices in terms of operation and customer service.
- haseeb@khaleejtimes.com
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