Label rules › Maldives

Maldives food label requirements for packaging

Food packed or labelled in the Maldives, imported into it or exported from it follows the Food Packaging and Labelling Regulation (Regulation No. 2026/R-52), which the Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) made under Article 26 of the Food Safety Act (Law No. 6/2024). It was gazetted on 9 June 2026 and applies from that day; goods already packed and labelled had six months to comply (Article 14(b)). It replaces the national standard MFDA-FCD STAN 4-2014 (Rev.1-2016). Schedule 1 covers packs for retail sale, Schedule 2 non-retail containers. Here is what goes on a retail pack, and how to lay it out.

Checked: 27 October 2026

Mandatory items

The mandatory particulars (Schedule 1, §4)

The name of the food; the ingredients in descending order of weight; the allergens; the net contents in SI units (and drained weight for food in a liquid); the name and address of the manufacturer or packer and of the importer; the country of origin where leaving it out would mislead; a lot mark; the date mark with the storage conditions it depends on; and instructions for use where needed. Packs whose largest surface is under 10 cm² may leave out the ingredients, lot, date and instructions — except herbs and spices (§6).

Dhivehi or English

The label is in Dhivehi or English (§8.2) — one of the two is enough. It is fixed so it cannot come off the pack, legible and indelible; an outer wrapper either repeats it or lets it be read through; the name and the net contents sit where they are easy to see (§8.1).

Dhivehi is written in Thaana, right to left: set Dhivehi blocks right-aligned in a Thaana font, keep numbers, units, dates and barcodes in their own left-to-right runs, and check that the client's Dhivehi copy is pasted word for word with every fili in place, never retyped. For non-retail containers in another language, Schedule 2 (§7.2) asks for a relabel or an extra Dhivehi or English label that matches the original fully and accurately.

Dates

“Use-by Date” or “Expiration Date” when the food's safety depends on it; otherwise “Best Before” (or “Best Quality Before”) (§4.7.1.1–2). Shelf life under three months: day and month (and the year when it could confuse); longer: month and year (§4.7.1.3). Numbers of 2 or 4 digits, never a code; the month may be in English or Dhivehi letters; the order must not be misread — for example DD/MM/YYYY (§4.7.1.6).

No date is needed on, among others, fresh fruit and vegetables that have not been cut or treated, bakery goods eaten within 24 hours, vinegar, food-grade salt that is not iodised, solid sugar, confectionery and chewing gum (§4.7.1.7).

Allergens, pork and fats

Name every allergen in the food or its ingredients: cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt and their hybrids), crustaceans (prawns, lobster, crab), eggs, fish, peanuts and soybeans, milk, tree nuts (hazelnut, walnut, cashew, almond…), and sulphite at 10 mg/kg or more (§4.2.1.4).

Pork fat, lard and beef fat are always written by their own name, never under a general class such as “fat” (§4.2.3.2). Margarine, vegetable oil, ghee and other edible oils declare their trans fat, which must stay under 2% (§4.2.1.10).

Food-grade packaging

Food is packed only in food-grade material that does not break down before the food's date and does not change the food; ink on a printed pack must not transfer to the food, or edible ink is used (Article 5). Containers not made for food, and single-use plastic bottles such as PET bottles meant to be thrown away after one use, must not be used to pack food (Article 5). The packer — and for imports, the importer — answers for the material's safety.

Laying it out in Drint

1. Drint does not yet check the Maldives' label rules — there is no Maldivian label kit in the studio. Lay the label out by hand:
2. Paste the client's Dhivehi or English text word for word as a text block on the back panel — Drint does not translate.
3. Write the dates in numbers, DD/MM/YYYY, next to “Use-by”, “Expiration Date” or “Best Before”; leave a clear space for the lot and date the packer prints.
4. Name allergens, pork fat, lard and beef fat as the client's specification gives them.
5. A halal mark goes on only when the client has a valid certificate: place the certifier's own artwork as supplied, never redrawn — Regulation 2026/R-52 itself sets no halal mark.
6. Preflight in Export lists text that is too small to print.

Lay out the label in Drint

Questions

A summary written to design packs, not legal advice. Check the current text — Regulation 2026/R-52 in the Government Gazette and on the Ministry of Health's site, and the client's certificates — with your client, the MFDA Food Control Division (3034217) or a food regulatory consultant before printing.