Non-Alcoholic Beer Rules in Asia and the Middle East

In the United Arab Emirates, we could not find a federal law that sets the alcohol level at which a drink becomes alcoholic. For customs, the UAE uses the Harmonized System, which classes a drink at 0.5% alcohol by volume or less as non-alcoholic and gives non-alcoholic beer its own heading.

The six Gulf states share a technical regulation for these drinks, GSO 1027:2021, which calls the product a malt beverage (شراب الشعير, "barley drink"). Its alcohol limit is in the part of the text that is sold rather than published, and we have not verified it, or whether the UAE has adopted it under its own code.

According to the US Department of Agriculture's 2025 report on the UAE, food labels must be in Arabic, and any other language on the label must give the same information. The same report says the UAE checks alcohol residues in food against UAE.S/GSO 2538:2021, which allows up to 0.1% in juices and 0.02% in most other foods, and that alcohol may be brought in and sold only through authorised establishments. We found no official rule on an age limit or a licence for buying non-alcoholic beer.

In Saudi Arabia, the import of alcoholic beverages is prohibited, according to the US alcohol trade regulator's country page, which was last reviewed in 2011. We did not find a Saudi text that sets an alcohol level for non-alcoholic beer. Saudi Arabia is still one of the ten largest markets for no-alcohol beer, according to the drinks research firm IWSR.

The Gulf regulation for malt beverages, GSO 1027:2021, was prepared under Saudi Arabia's lead in the Gulf standards body. Its alcohol limit is in the part of the text that is not published, and we have not verified it.

In 2013, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Commerce stopped restaurants and hotels from using the names of wines on food. It cited a fatwa from the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta that also covered the phrase "wine without alcohol", because the name resembles something forbidden. The notice names wine and does not mention beer. Food labels in Saudi Arabia must be in Arabic or carry an Arabic translation, according to the US Department of Agriculture's 2024 report.

Kuwait prohibits the import of alcoholic beverages and of foods that contain alcohol. A 2012 US Department of Agriculture report states that non-alcoholic beverages have been allowed in since late 2000, provided their alcohol level does not exceed 0.05%. The US alcohol trade regulator's page on Kuwait, reviewed in March 2026, repeats that figure and cites the same report.

The same report says a product may not enter Kuwait if its label shows a picture of alcohol, even when the product contains none, and that labels must give the required information in Arabic. We have not found a current Kuwaiti text that confirms these rules.

In Qatar, the import of alcoholic beverages is restricted to one organisation and the government controls their sale, according to a 2011 US Department of Agriculture report. The same report gives a maximum alcohol content of 0.05% for barley beverages sold as non-alcoholic beer, and says advertising of alcoholic beverages is prohibited.

We have not found a current Qatari text that confirms the 0.05% figure, or a rule on who may buy non-alcoholic beer.

Bahrain has adopted the Gulf regulation for non-alcoholic malt beverages as a national technical regulation, BH GSO 1027:2022, approved on 28 April 2022. Its scope is non-alcoholic malt beverages intended for direct human consumption. Its alcohol limit is in the part of the text that is not published, and we have not verified it.

We have not verified Bahrain's legal alcohol threshold or its rules on who may buy non-alcoholic beer.

Oman lists the Gulf text for malt beverages as an Omani Standard, OS GSO 1027:2021. Whether it is mandatory in Oman, and its alcohol limit, are not verified.

A 2011 US Department of Agriculture report states that non-alcoholic beer needs an import licence from Oman's commerce ministry and is tested at the point of entry, and that alcoholic beverages are limited to licensed import companies. We have not found a current Omani text that confirms these rules.

Egypt regulates these drinks under Egyptian Standard ES 1765/2016, "Non-Alcoholic Barley Drink", which Ministerial Decree No. 256/2016 made mandatory for producers and importers. A 2019 amendment added a requirement to show the production and expiry dates. We have not verified the standard's alcohol limit.

Jordan's standards body has issued a draft revision of its standard for non-alcoholic malt beverages, DJS 1402:2025. The draft sets a maximum ethanol content of 0.05% by volume and requires the Arabic product name شراب الشعير (barley drink) or شراب شعير خالٍ من الكحول (barley drink free of alcohol). It does not list the word beer (بيرة) among the allowed names.

The draft was issued for a vote and may not be cited as a Jordanian standard until it is approved, so it is not yet in force. It also requires the product to meet Jordan's halal standard.

In Türkiye, Law No. 4250 bans the advertising and promotion of alcoholic drinks. Article 6 also says that no brand or distinguishing mark of an alcoholic drink may be used on a non-alcoholic drink, and that no mark of a non-alcoholic drink may be used on an alcoholic one. The article was last amended on 11 June 2026.

Under the same article, a non-alcoholic drink made by processing a product in the alcoholic-drinks category must state on the pack how much alcohol it still contains. Alcoholic drinks may not be sold to anyone under 18, or sold in shops between 10 pm and 6 am. We did not find the alcohol level at which Turkish law counts a drink as alcoholic, so we have not verified whether these rules reach a drink under 0.5%.

In Malaysia, the Food Regulations 1985 have treated a drink as an alcoholic beverage when it contains more than 0.5% alcohol by volume since 1 April 2026. Before that date, the line was more than 2%.

Malaysian law has no category called non-alcoholic beer. A beer made by separating the alcohol out, which leaves 0.5% or less, is a "dealcoholised alcoholic beverage" under regulation 386B. Its label must join the word "dealcoholised" to the drink's name, may not use words such as "non-alcoholic" or "soft drink", and must carry the same warnings as an alcoholic drink.

Malaysia's Food Regulations allow the words beer, lager, ale or stout on a label only for a drink that meets the beer standard of more than 2% alcohol, and a soft drink may use the word beer only for ginger beer, ginger ale and root beer. We found no category for a beer-style drink brewed to stay at 0.5% or less, and how the Ministry of Health labels such a drink is not verified.

In Malaysia, alcoholic beverages, and dealcoholised ones, may not be sold to anyone under 21, must be displayed apart from other food, and must carry a warning that drinking liquor can harm health.

In Indonesia, Presidential Regulation No. 74 of 2013 defines an alcoholic beverage as a drink containing ethanol made by fermentation, with or without distillation. It sets no lower alcohol limit, and its lowest class, Group A, covers drinks of up to 5%. We found no legal definition of non-alcoholic beer, and how the authorities treat drinks at 0.5% or less is not verified.

Indonesia's halal law requires products sold in the country to be halal-certified, and products made from materials that are not halal must carry a "NON HALAL" statement instead. A 2026 regulation of the halal agency, BPJPH, lists drinks containing 0.5% alcohol or more among non-halal materials. Food and drink from micro and small businesses must be certified by 17 October 2026, and the deadline for food and drink from abroad is to be set by the minister by the same date.

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has ruled that food and drink named after forbidden drinks, such as beer, may not be consumed, and its halal inspection body has said that products sold as "0% beer" cannot be certified halal. The halal section below quotes these rulings.

In Singapore, the Liquor Control (Supply and Consumption) Act 2015 defines liquor as a beverage containing more than 0.5% ethanol by mass or volume. A drink at or below 0.5% is not liquor, so the Act's licensing, trading-hours and public-drinking rules do not reach it.

We have not yet verified how Singapore's Food Regulations label beer-style drinks at or below 0.5%, or whether any age rule applies to buying them.

In Thailand, an amendment to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act that took effect on 8 November 2025 excludes beverages with an alcohol content of 0.5 degree or less from the definition of an alcoholic beverage. The degree is commonly read as percent by volume, although the Act does not define it. The Act's rules on the sale age of 20, places of sale and hours of sale therefore do not apply to such drinks as products.

The same amendment added section 32/3, which bans advertising any product that uses the name or mark of an alcoholic beverage in a way that may be understood as advertising that alcoholic beverage. On its wording, this can reach a non-alcoholic drink sold under a beer's name. Food labels in Thailand must be in Thai.

In Vietnam, the Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcoholic Beverages (Law No. 44/2019/QH14) defines beer as a fermented malt drink containing food-grade alcohol, with no minimum strength and no 0.5% line. We found no legal term for non-alcoholic beer (bia không cồn), so the law does not say whether a beer of 0.5% or less is covered.

The same law bans selling, supplying or promoting beer to anyone under 18 and bans selling it from vending machines, and Decree 24/2020 requires online sellers to check that the person receiving the order is 18 or over. Labels on goods sold in Vietnam must be in Vietnamese.

In the Philippines, we found no statute, regulation or national standard that defines non-alcoholic beer or sets an alcohol line for it. The excise tax on "beer, lager beer, ale, porter and other fermented liquors" in section 143 of the National Internal Revenue Code sets no threshold for alcohol content, and the Department of Health's labelling rules require alcoholic beverages to state their alcohol content without defining an alcoholic beverage.

The same labelling rules say a prepackaged food must not be presented in words or pictures that suggest another product it could be confused with. We have not verified how these rules, or the rules on sale to minors, apply to non-alcoholic beer.

In Brunei, the Syariah Penal Code Order 2013 makes it an offence for a Muslim to make, sell, buy or possess any liquor or intoxicating drink, and for anyone to sell or serve it to a Muslim, but it does not define liquor by alcohol content.

The Royal Customs and Excise Department's list of alcoholic drinks that need import permits covers beer, shandy and the other alcoholic headings, but not the customs line for non-alcoholic beer. We found no official statement on whether non-alcoholic beer may be brought in or sold.