International Standards

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General Standards

Standards organizations

Saudi Arabia is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the GCC policy is oriented to create a common set of standards. The Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO) represents the country's main standardization body. SASO is responsible for establishing national standards, measurements, testing methods, commodity definitions, safety measures etc. The Saudi Arabian Standards Organization includes more than 20,500 standards, and it is actively working on the development of new standards. SASO adopted ISO 9000 as the approved standards for Saudi Arabia. In addition, SASO adopts ASTM, NEMA, ANSI, UL and NFPA standards.

In Saudi Arabia, product testing is performed by the laboratories of the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Commerce and Investment. Thus, the Saudi Ministry of Municipality and Rural Affairs Environmental Control Department tests food products; the Communications and Information Technology Commission is responsible for testing imported telecommunications and IT products; the Saudi Food and Drug Authority is in charge of controlling food and drugs safety, safety of biological and chemical substances, and safety of medical and electronic products. It should be mentioned that food standards in Saudi Arabia are based on the Codex Alimentarius regulations, as well as European and U.S. standards modified to fit the local conditions.

Conformity Assessment

Saudi Arabia applied a certification system known as the ICCP (International Conformity Certification Program). The ICCP was applicable to 66 regulated products. The major objecive of the ICCP was to guarantee consumer protection and conformity of the imported products to SASO standards. At present, conformity assessment can be performed through several Conformity Assessment Bodies such as Bureau Veritas, SGS, TUV etc.

As Saudi Arabia complies with all obligations under the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, the country has committed to remove the mandatory, pre-market approval requirements for imports and to implement a non-discriminatory, post-market surveillance mechanism applicable to foreign and domestic product at no cost to suppliers.

At the moment, Saudi Arabia requires a Certificate of Conformity for all imported consumer goods (except food products, medical products, medicines and medical equipment, products of large industrial projects). The Ministry of Commerce and Investment is responsible for the Certificate of Conformity (CoC) program.

Product Certification

The Saudi Arabian Standards Organization has its own certification organization for domestically manufactured products, as many SASO employees have been certified to work as professional auditors in conformance with ISO 9000 series standards. As to the imported products, the Ministry of Commerce and Investment is in charge of implementing the CoC program.

All poultry and meat exports to Saudi Arabia should be accompanied by a health certificated attesting that the poultry slaughtered for export to Saudi Arabia was not fed with products containing animal protein, fat or remnants of animal origin. This condition has drastically reduced the number of U.S. poultry meat suppliers that can fulfill the SFDA’s poultry feed requirements. In addition, the maximum residue requirements for synthetic hormones in animal products should comply with international standards.

Accreditation

The Saudi Arabian Standards Organization is the only authority empowered to grant standards accreditation.

Labeling and Marking

Labeling and marking requirements are established by SASO. The Ministry of Commerce and Investment implements SASO guidelines through its inspection and test laboratories at ports of entry into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian Standards Organization has specific requirements for identifying marks and labels for the imported products. Thus, labels on imported food products must be in Arabic and English and indicate the product name, ingredients, country of origin, manufacturer, shelf life, instructions for use and other relevant details. All imported food products must be suitable for human consumption and should meet established shelf life requirements. The production and expiry dates should follow the scheme day/month/year.

Contacts

Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO)

Head: Dr. Saud Al-Kassabi

Address: P.O. Box 3437, Riyadh 11471, Saudi Arabia

Tel.: (+966-11) 456-9893

Fax: (+966-11) 452-0086

Saudi Food & Drug Authority (SFDA)

Head: Dr. Mohammad Al-Miisha’al, Executive President

Address: P.O. Box 84983, Riyadh 11681, Saudi Arabia

Tel.: (+966-11) 275-2665

Fax: (+966-11) 275-1164

Communications & Information Technology Commission (CITC)