Office Chair Manufacturer Supplying the UAE and the Gulf
We manufacture office seating in Casablanca and ship it to importers, dealers and corporate buyers across the Gulf. Fifteen days at sea from Casablanca, and a reorder produced in one week. On duty we have nothing to sell you: the Gulf tariff is the same for us as for an Asian supplier, and we set out below why that still leaves you better off.
Five per cent — and your Chinese supplier pays it too
The GCC has been a customs union since 1 January 2003. The UAE customs authority states the rate plainly: 5% on all foreign goods imported from outside the Union, charged on the CIF value. Morocco has no free-trade agreement in force with the Gulf states that would change that line, so a Moroccan chair and a Chinese chair clear at the same rate. Any supplier who implies otherwise is selling you something that will not survive your first clearance.
What the union does give you
The duty is collected once, at the first point of entry, and the goods then move inside the union without being charged again. A distributor clearing a container through Jebel Ali can serve Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia from that single clearance. That is worth more to a regional distributor than a preferential rate on one country would be.
Tariff heading
Swivel office chairs with height adjustment fall under heading 9401.39. We state it on the commercial invoice, with the packing list and the test documents, so your broker is not left classifying the goods himself. Ask him to confirm the rate against your own national line before you budget: the 5% is the union floor, and individual states apply their own additions on some categories.
What origin is still worth
Moroccan origin is not a saving here, but it is documentary. The certificate of origin issued by Moroccan customs travels with every shipment, and it matters if you re-export from a free zone, if you incorporate the goods, or if a tender requires a documented origin. We supply it as a matter of course, not on request.
The American standard, because Gulf specifications ask for it
Gulf corporate fit-outs are often specified on American practice, which is why a supplier who can only show a European certificate loses tenders here. Our chairs are built to conform to ANSI/BIFMA X5.1-2011 and certified to EN 1335-1-2-3:2016, and both document sets go out with the quotation rather than after the order.
What we can show, and in what form
The EN 1335-1-2-3:2016 certificate, and the test reports against ANSI/BIFMA X5.1-2011. We do not write that the chairs are BIFMA certified, because no chair from any manufacturer is: BIFMA does not test or certify products. What exists is a laboratory report against the standard, and that is what we send you.
Designed for intensive use, and warranted for it
The Challenger was developed from the founder’s years in call centres, where a chair carries three shifts a day. That is the use case it is tested against, and it carries a five-year warranty on structural components. Ask for the Martindale and pilling figures on the fabric if your specification sets them — they are on the datasheet, not invented for the tender.
Upholstery and fire performance
If your project requires upholstery fire testing to BS EN 1021-1 and 1021-2, or California TB 117-2013, say so with the enquiry. Those are run on the fabric, not on the chair, and the certificates come from the mill. We will tell you which of our fabrics already carry them rather than promise all of them do.
Three ways Gulf buyers work with us
Dubai and Abu Dhabi concentrate the regional headquarters, shared service centres and banking floors that specify seating by the hundred, and Jebel Ali is the warehouse that serves the rest of the union. Riyadh, Doha and Muscat are the project markets behind them.
Importers and regional distributors
You buy by the container, clear once and redistribute across the union. Minimum order 100 units on the Challenger and 20 on the Exclusive, EXW or FOB Casablanca. Private labelling is available: fabric, colour, mechanism and armrests are decided on the production run, not picked from a catalogue.
Fit-out contractors
You are working to a programme and a specification, and a six-week ocean leg from Asia is what puts your handover at risk. A reorder of a model we have already run for you is produced in one week, then fifteen days at sea — about three weeks to your site, against two months. That gap is the reason to talk to us.
Corporate and facilities buyers
You equip offices, call centres or several sites at once and buy direct rather than through a dealer. EN 1335 certification and ANSI/BIFMA X5.1 conformance cover procurement and tender requirements, and one 40ft container covers a full floor.
Fifteen days instead of six weeks, and a line we own
Fifteen days at sea, not six weeks
Casablanca to a Gulf port is about fifteen days. From East Asia the same container is on the water for four to six weeks, before any congestion. Added to a one-week reorder, that is the difference between three weeks and two months — and it decides how much stock you have to finance to hold a service level.
We own the line
Our own moulds, our own upholstery workshop, our own assembly, in a 2,000 m² plant in Casablanca producing since 2008. A question about a mechanism or a test report reaches the people who built the chair. It is also what lets us supply a spare part years after a delivery, which a trading company cannot promise.
Priced from Morocco, not from Europe
We are not a European brand with a Moroccan assembly line. The chairs are designed and made in Casablanca, which is what puts a chair tested to the same standards into a budget that European manufacturing cannot reach. Compare the specification line by line rather than the badge.
The figures to work from
Every figure assumes chairs shipped disassembled, which is how export orders leave the factory. It is the single factor that decides what you pay in freight per chair.
| Model | Type | Minimum order | 40ft HC | First order of 100 | Reorder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Challenger 175 | Operator chair, Aero 3D mesh, headrest | 100 | 360 | 15 days | 1 week |
| Exclusive 500 | Executive chair, leather | 20 | 200 | 30 days | 1 week |
Incoterms EXW or FOB Casablanca. Mixed orders across models are possible — ask for the exact container plan on your combination. Exclusive G, BY 1, BY G and Caddy 80 are available too.
Importing from Morocco into the Gulf, in practice
What duty will I pay on Moroccan office chairs in the UAE?
Five per cent on the CIF value. The GCC has been a customs union since 1 January 2003 and the UAE customs authority states the rate as 5% on all foreign goods imported from outside the Union. There is no free-trade agreement in force between Morocco and the Gulf states that lowers it, so the rate is the same as on Chinese goods. Ask your broker to confirm it against your own national tariff line before you budget, because the 5% is the union floor and individual states add to it on some categories.
If I clear a container in Dubai, do I pay duty again in Qatar or Oman?
No. Under the customs union the duty is collected once, at the first point of entry, and the goods then move inside the union without being charged again. That is why a regional distributor clearing through Jebel Ali can serve the other member states from one clearance. Confirm the internal documentation your own movements require with your broker.
Are the chairs certified for Gulf tenders?
They are certified to EN 1335-1-2-3:2016 and built to conform to ANSI/BIFMA X5.1-2011. The EN 1335 certificate and the ANSI/BIFMA test reports go out with the quotation rather than after the order, so your procurement team can review them before committing. We do not describe the chairs as BIFMA certified: BIFMA does not test or certify products, and no manufacturer’s chair is. If your tender names a standard we have not listed, tell us and we will say plainly whether we hold a report for it.
How long does delivery to the Gulf take?
A first order of 100 Challenger chairs is produced in 15 days and 100 Exclusive in 30 days, counted from order confirmation. A reorder of a model already run for you takes one week, the setup being done. Sea freight from Casablanca then adds about fifteen days to a Gulf port, so a reorder reaches you in roughly three weeks. We confirm the figure for your port in the quotation.
What is the minimum order quantity?
100 units for the Challenger operator chair and 20 units for the Exclusive executive chair. Mixed orders are possible — ask us for the exact container plan on your combination.
How many chairs fit in one container?
A 40ft High Cube holds 360 Challenger or 200 Exclusive chairs, shipped disassembled. A 20ft holds 150 or 80 respectively. Full loading figures, production lead times and Incoterms are set out on our container loading page.
Can you private label for our brand?
Yes, from one container. Fabric, colour, mechanism and armrest choice are decided on the production run, and branding is applied in the factory. Ask us what is possible on your volume before you design the packaging.
Do you manufacture, or do you resell?
We manufacture. The chairs are produced on our own line in Casablanca, where we have been making them since 2008, and we own the moulds our plastic components come from. That is also what lets us supply a spare part years after a delivery.
Tell us what you need to land in the Gulf
Models, quantities and destination port. We come back with the container plan, the production lead time and an FOB Casablanca price, with the certificate, the test reports and the certificate of origin.