Frequently Asked Questions

SALEEM is the Saudi Product Safety Programme. This new Saudi Product Safety Programme aims to ensure that goods and products imported into Saudi Arabia meet the highest level of safety standards thereby promoting consumers' safety, environmental protection and energy conservation.

To facilitate the Saudi Product Safety Programme, SASO has issued Technical Regulations (TRs) for certain products based on their nature, application, safety and performance aspects.

SASO is an acronym for the “Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO)” that was established pursuant to the Royal Decree No. M/10 dated 03/03/1392 H and headed by his Excellency, Minister of Commerce and Investment (MoCI). The responsibility of SASO is concerned with generation of standards and disseminating a culture of quality and standardization in all industrial and service activities within the kingdom.

SASO is also a member of Gulf Standardization Organization (GSO).

A Technical Regulation (TR) is a document approved by the Board of Directors of SASO that guides concerned stakeholders regarding the technical requirements, methods of testing and the applicable administrative provisions to be complied with for a group of high or medium risk products. This document also includes legal clauses that empower the Regulatory Bodies and Market Surveillance Authorities to continuously assess the Regulated Products that are shipped to KSA. Furthermore, SASO obtains approval from the World Trade Organization (WTO) while at the same time, meets the requirements laid out by the Islamic Sharia law prior to publishing the Technical Regulations.

The Saudi Product Safety Programme has been collaboratively developed by several departments within SASO along with technical consultations provided by Certification Bodies (CBs) and other KSA Government Authorities such as MOCI and KSA Customs and therefore, all the aforementioned entities are collectively responsible for the Saudi Product Safety Programme and more importantly ensuring that Regulated Products are meeting the conformity requirements prior to entering the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

SABER is an electronic platform that is designed by SASO for facilitating the online certification of Products and Shipments under the Saudi Product Safety Programme. Furthermore, this online system will serve as the central online repository for all data related to the Saudi Product Safety Programme. The SABER system is also integrated with KSA Customs, GSO GCTS Database, JEEM portal, MoCI, SLS and other KSA authorities.

SABER Platform can be accessed using the below link:

https://saber.sa/

SASO has undertaken a phased implementation approach for the launch of SABER in the following manner.

• May 2018 - SABER was made available to few selected traders in the pilot phase.
• July 2018 - SABER system was made available to all traders within KSA and those that registered their products in the SABER system were given priority clearance at KSA Customs.
• January 2019 - Complete launch of SABER system. However, due to the magnitude of this project, a phased implementation approach was undertaken by SASO.
• January 2020 - All regulated shall be certified through SABER Platform only irrespective of whether their Technical Regulations have been published or not.
• February 2020 - All other products (non-regulated) need to be registered through SABER Platform based on a Self-Declaration of Conformity (S-DoC).

Refer to Schedule of Enforcements of Technical Regulations on SABER.

Product Certification is the process of conformity assessment to a defined certification scheme carried out by an impartial third-party certification body to certify that a certain product has passed the quality assurance tests and meets the necessary qualification criteria as stipulated in national, regional or international standards. Product certification is carried out by CBs which should confirm to ISO/IEC 17065.

Shipment Certificate of Conformity (Shipment CoC) is issued to the shipment which includes products that have been issued with Product Certificate of Conformity (Product CoC). The Shipment CoC demonstrates that the goods being exported comply with the relevant Technical Regulations and National, Regional or International Standards of the country of import thereby protecting consumers from potential dangers to their health, safety and environment on account of substandard imported products placed in their marketplace. The Shipment CoC is a mandatory document which is necessary for Customs clearance.

The G-Mark or GSO Marking is a mandatory requirement for Low Voltage Electrical Products and Children’s Toys being exported to the Gulf Coordinating Council (GCC) of Countries under the Gulf Standardization Organization (GSO), as defined within the Low Voltage Technical Regulation, BD-142004-01 and Gulf Toy Technical Regulation (GTTR), BD-131704-01. The G-Mark is commonly represented by this symbol.

For further information, refer to Gulf Mark (G Mark) for Products Imported or Sold in Gulf Member States

The general requirement for G-Marking is in effect since 01 January 2014 for Toys and 01 July 2016 for Electrical Appliances and Equipment in List (2). However, in Jun 2016, GSO announced the implementation of the Gulf Conformity Tracking Symbol (GCTS) for LVE products which is a consolidated marking of the G mark and QR code.

For more information regarding the products covered under the scope of G-Mark or List (2) LVE products, contact any of your local Intertek Offices for further assistance.

Yes, products under the scope of GSO TR for Toys and Low Voltage Equipment are regulated under Saudi Product Safety Programme.

The SIRC is a Recognition Certificate issued by SASO for certain Regulated Products based on:

• A valid IECEE Test Report issued under the IECEE CB scheme by IECEE CB Testing Laboratory and
• A valid IECEE CB Certificate issued by a National Certification Body (NCB).

This SIRC is a mandatory pre-requisite Certificate to obtain the Product CoC and Shipment CoC which are required for clearance of the Shipment at the KSA Customs or Ports and Borders.

SASO made an announcement regarding the requirement for SASO IECEE Recognition Certificate (SIRC) to be effective from 15 February 2018. However, this enforcement date varies from product to product (Schedule of Enforcements of Technical Regulations on SABER). For example: Lighting Products require SIRC starting from 1st Feb 2019 whereas for certain electronic products, the implementation started from 01 August 2018.

Yes, products under SIRC are regulated under Saudi Product Safety Programme.

Cosmetic and Perfumery products fall under SFDA jurisdiction and hence are not covered under the SASO Technical Regulation.

SASO has developed an Energy Efficiency Programme to regulate the energy consumption for certain products. After passing the applicable performance and energy efficiency tests laid out in the applicable standards, these products are awarded the SASO Energy Efficiency Certificate and Label. This SASO energy efficiency programme is technically similar to other EE programmes run in other countries and regions.

The EER Certificate and Labelling is provided only by SASO. Offices may guide clients to register their products for the EER certificate and label on the Saudi Label and Standard (SLandS) website.

Alternatively, this service to obtain the EER Certificate and Label from SASO can be facilitated by Intertek for a nominal Fee.

Yes, some products falling under EER may also require to comply with SIRC and G-Mark type certification. For example:

• Lighting Products have to comply with EE Requirements as per SASO 2870 or SASO 2902 and also required to obtain the SIRC or IECEE Certificate by having the product tested as per applicable IEC safety standards.
• ACs have to comply with SASO 2663 to obtain the EE Certificate and also required to obtain the G-mark type certificate.

For additional assistance on EER Certification, please contact your local Intertek GTS Office.

The SASO Quality Mark (QM)is awarded by SASO for any product that is able to demonstrate compliance to the applicable SASO Technical Regulation under the Type 5 product certification scheme which would require a successful initial and periodic audits of the product’s manufacturing facility to demonstrate the continuous compliance of the product.

No. The SASO QM is mandatory for certain Regulated Products that are listed here below:

• All products falling under the scope of the TR for Gas Appliances
• Low-Alloy Steel rods and Carbon rods for concrete reinforcement as per the TR for Building Materials – Part 1
• All Cement products as per the TR for Building Materials - Part 3
• All Ceramic Tiles as per the TR for Building Materials - Part 4.
• Aluminium composite panel for exterior and interior finishes
• Electrical connections – plugs, sockets and cables

For all other Regulated Products, the SASO QM is optional.

Applicants have to register on the Jeem website to obtain the SASO QM for their applicable products.

Intertek is one of the Certification Bodies (CBs) authorised to issue Product Certificate of Conformity (Product CoC) and Shipment Certificate of Conformity (Shipment CoC) under the Saudi Product Safety Programme. Intertek has been accredited for most of the Technical Regulations under the 5 geographical regions (Asia and Australia, Europe, North and South America, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and South and Middle Africa (SAMA)).

SASO has allowed several flexibilities on account of the global pandemic of COVID-19 as listed below:

• Automatic 3-month extension of P-CoC validity is granted on the SABER Platform for all those P-CoCs which are expiring in March, April and May 2020. Therefore, Clients are neither required to submit a request for renewal of P-CoCs, nor undergo any Conformity Assessment Activities linked with the renewal of P-CoCs during this period.
• Certification Bodies (CBs) can accept Test Reports up to 3 years old from its issue date until further notice for evidencing conformity of regulated products.
• S-CoC fees shall be revised as follows for all S-CoC applications submitted on SABER from 15 April 2020, 00:00 hours (KSA Time) onwards:
  
  

  SERVICE	FEES	INVOICING MECHANISM
  Shipment Certificate of Conformity (S-CoC) issuance	Fee Payment on SADAD: SASO = 367.50 SAR per S-CoC (350 SAR + 5% VAT)	OPTION 1: To be paid through SADAD (Saudi’s payment platform) by the Importer. OPTION 2: If Shipment Certification is handled by Intertek on behalf of the Importers, Intertek can facilitate the payment on SABER platform and recharge the amount to the concerned party as per the SLA.

  
  
• Deferment of Factory Inspections for P-CoC applications submitted on the SABER Platform in the months of April, May, June and July 2020 for those PCoC which require to undergo Factory Inspection as per the applicable Technical Regulations. However, the Client shall provide a duly signed declaration Undertaking Letter for complying with Factory Inspection Requirements stating their willingness to undergo Factory Inspection when the Factory Inspection is practical to perform.

Aside from these flexibilities, CBs shall continue to ensure the availability of all other qualifying documents in the Technical File prior to the issuance of P-CoC on the SABER Platform.