Export readiness for Saudi Arabia
See what your product needs to enter Saudi Arabia: the way through SABER, what you prepare, who does what, and an estimate of time and cost.
Worked out from published official requirements only; every line shows its source and when it was last checked. Where the data falls short it never guesses: it tells you what to ask an expert.
The way in, by industry
Which way a product enters Saudi Arabia in the four industries covered. Check your product's code below for what applies to it.
Textiles
HS chapters 50–63
Through SABER
Furniture
HS chapter 94
Through SABER
Building materials
Cement, ceramics, glass, metal, paints and more
Through SABER
Food
HS chapters 02–22
Through the SFDA
The official bodies
Three Saudi bodies decide whether a product may enter. Birlesa is not affiliated with any of them.
- SASO · Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization
- Sets the technical regulations most industrial products must meet, and accepts the conformity assessment bodies that certify them.
- Official site: www.saso.gov.sa (opens in a new tab)
- SABER · SASO's online conformity platform
- Where products are registered and their product certificates (PCoC) and shipment certificates (SCoC) are issued; the Saudi importer files, not the exporter.
- Official site: saber.sa (opens in a new tab)
- SFDA · Saudi Food and Drug Authority
- Registers food importers and products and clears each food shipment at customs; food does not go through SABER.
- Official site: www.sfda.gov.sa (opens in a new tab)
Your product
Rules notified to the WTO
Rules in Saudi Arabia as notified to the WTO: draft regulations, emergency measures and their changes, newest first.
- G/SPS/N/SAU/640Food safety, animal and plant health (SPS)Emergency measure
Notice of Administration Order of Saudi Food and Drug Authority Ref. No. 17345 dated 28 October 2026 entitled “Temporary ban on importation of poultry meat, eggs and their products originating from Santa Catarina in Brazil”
Products: Poultry meat, eggs and their products
Notified on 30 October 2026Proposed entry into force: 28 October 2026Origins it names: Brazil
On ePing(opens in a new tab)The notification(opens in a new tab)
- G/SPS/N/SAU/639Food safety, animal and plant health (SPS)Emergency measure
Notice of Administration Order of Saudi Food and Drug Authority Ref. No. 16506 dated 25 October 2026 entitled “Temporary ban on importation of poultry meat, eggs and their products originating from Wielkopolskie in Poland”
Products: Poultry meat, eggs and their products
Notified on 30 October 2026Proposed entry into force: 25 October 2026Origins it names: Poland
On ePing(opens in a new tab)The notification(opens in a new tab)
- G/SPS/N/SAU/638/Corr.1Food safety, animal and plant health (SPS)Correction
Notice of Administration Order of Saudi Food and Drug Authority Ref. No. 16506 dated 25 October 2026 entitled “Temporary ban on importation of poultry meat, eggs and their products originating from Wielkopolskie in Poland”
Products: Poultry meat, eggs and their products
Notified on 30 October 2026Origins it names: Poland
On ePing(opens in a new tab)The notification(opens in a new tab)
- G/SPS/N/SAU/638Food safety, animal and plant health (SPS)Emergency measure
Notice of Administration Order of Saudi Food and Drug Authority Ref. No. 16506 dated 25 October 2026 entitled “Temporary ban on importation of poultry meat, eggs and their products originating from Wielkopolskie in Poland”
Products: Poultry meat, eggs and their products
Notified on 26 October 2026Proposed entry into force: 25 October 2026Origins it names: Poland
On ePing(opens in a new tab)The notification(opens in a new tab)
- G/TBT/N/SAU/1458Technical rules (TBT)New ruleOpen for comments
General requirements for novel feeds and feed products of biotechnology
Products: Animal feeding stuffs (ICS code(s): 65.120)
Notified on 14 October 2026Comments until 13 December 2026
On ePing(opens in a new tab)The notification(opens in a new tab)
282 notifications in all; 34 open for comments. Titles and products as notified, in English.
Source: the World Trade Organization's ePing.
How does selling to Saudi Arabia work?
Most industrial products entering Saudi Arabia go through SABER, the platform of SASO (the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization), while food goes through the SFDA. For one product the steps are roughly these:
Registration in SABER
The Saudi importer registers the product in SABER; the conformity of products technical regulations cover is documented there.
Product certificate (PCoC)
A product a SASO technical regulation covers takes a product certificate from a conformity assessment body SASO accepts. Without a regulation, the importer's declaration of conformity may be enough.
Shipment certificate (SCoC)
Each shipment takes its own shipment certificate in SABER; customs asks for it.
The 12-digit Saudi tariff line
SABER knows a product by Saudi Arabia's 12-digit tariff line. Start from Türkiye's GTİP line and confirm the Saudi line with your importer or customs broker.
An Arabic label
Label and packaging information must be in Arabic; a missing or wrong label is one of the most common reasons shipments are stopped and sent back.
Food: the SFDA
Food enters through the SFDA's registration and customs clearance instead of SABER; products of animal origin need more, such as a health certificate from Türkiye's competent authority.
What does this tool rest on?
Published requirements only
The answer is worked out from requirements recorded from the official texts of SASO, the SFDA and Saudi law and then published; it is not an AI's guess.
A source for every line
Every requirement shows a link to its official source and the date a person last checked it.
An estimate that says so
Time and cost are added up from published amounts only and always marked as an estimate; items no source gives are never guessed, and are listed apart.
An expert where it is unclear
When a product falls under several regulations or data is missing, the tool does not guess: it tells you what to ask an expert.
Nothing is sent
Your readiness file stays in your organization; no document or draft is sent to anyone without your approval.
Scope for now
Readiness checklists are ready for four industries for now: textiles, furniture, food and building materials. As requirements are published, answers update by themselves.
This is a suggestion; have your customs broker confirm it before any official filing.