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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

If you know the code, type all 12 digits. If not, describe the product and we show the closest lines of the tariff.

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Don't know your code? Let Lale find it

The answer for Saudi Arabia is ready.

The answer for Saudi Arabia

GTİP line checked

0810.10.00.00.00

Fresh strawberries

Official Turkish title: Çilek (taze)

HS 0810.10Food readiness checklistCode page

Food: SFDA

It enters through the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA)

Food takes the SFDA's registration and customs clearance instead of SABER; depending on the product, documents such as halal, health or phytosanitary certificates are added.

Is this product regulated? Yes

The way into Saudi Arabia

  1. Through the SFDA

    The Saudi Food and Drug Authority's registration and customs clearance.

  2. SFDA customs clearance

    The product is registered in the SFDA's system and each shipment is cleared by the SFDA at customs.

What you prepare

You, the exporter, prepare these. Each comes with the source of the requirement it rests on.

  • 12-digit Saudi tariff code agreed

    • Saudi importer
    • Exporter (you)

    What counts as having it: The 12-digit Saudi line confirmed with your importer or customs broker (for sweetened drinks, by sugar content).

  • Product registered in GHAD

    • Exporter (you)
    • Saudi importer

    What counts as having it: Ingredients list, nutrition facts and a copy of the nutrition label.

  • Arabic label that meets SFDA rules

    • Exporter (you)

    What counts as having it: Arabic text (other languages identical in content), expiry date, nutrition panel, allergens.

  • Certificates for the claims on the label

    • Exporter (you)

    What counts as having it: For each claim, the certificate that proves it.

    Only: If the label shows a halal logo, a quality mark, or an organic or gluten-free claim.

  • Halal slaughter or halal certificate

    • Exporter (you)

    What counts as having it: A certificate from a centre the Saudi Halal Center accredits or designates.

    Only: Meat, poultry and gelatine; products with animal-derived ingredients; products with a halal logo.

  • Certificate of origin, commercial invoice and bill of lading

    • Exporter (you)

    What counts as having it: The invoice lists the products, quantities, expiry dates and batch numbers.

Who does what

Your importer, the conformity body or Türkiye's competent authority provides these; plan your readiness with them.

  • Saudi importer registered in SFDA's GHAD system, with a licensed warehouse

    • Saudi importer

    What counts as having it: The importer's GHAD registration and warehouse licence (or the exemption that applies).

  • Phytosanitary certificate

    • Competent authority in Türkiye

    What counts as having it: An official certificate from Türkiye's competent authority.

    Only: For fresh fruit, vegetables and grains.

Time and cost

Estimate

Only the fees and durations official sources publish are added up; a cap counts from nothing to the cap. Items no source publishes are never guessed.

This way

Published fees
No published fee
Published durations
No published duration

  • Halal certificate

    per product · the exporter pays

    Amount not published

  • SFDA registration

    per product · the importer pays

    Amount not published

Items no source gives an amount or a duration for:

Halal certificate and SFDA registration. We don't estimate these; get quotes from conformity bodies and laboratories.

The requirements behind it

Every published requirement, with its official source and when it was last checked.

  • MandatoryCertificate

    Halal certificate for food with animal-derived ingredients or a halal logo

    Chapter 08 · Certificate: Halal certification

    Details

    SFDA's clearance guide asks for a halal certificate for food that needs one under SFDA's conditions (for example products containing meat derivatives, rennet, gelatine, or animal fats and oils or their derivatives) and for products bearing a halal label or logo, which must come from halal centres designated by the Saudi Halal Center. Under the Food Law's implementing regulation, food breaches Islamic law if its source or a component is non-halal under the technical regulations, or if halal food is mixed with non-halal food.

  • MandatoryDocument

    12-digit Saudi customs tariff code

    Chapter 08

    Details

    Saudi customs (ZATCA) has applied the GCC integrated customs tariff at the 12-digit level since 1 January 2025 and publishes amendments to it: for example Ministerial Resolution 1447-88-5 (5/5/1447 H) created, deleted and amended lines, with new lines for sweetened beverages applied from 1 January 2026. Your Saudi importer declares the 12-digit code in Fasah and registers the product in SABER by its HS code. Agree the right 12-digit Saudi line with your importer or customs broker.

  • MandatoryDocument

    Food: SFDA clearance, GHAD registration and Fasah

    Chapter 08

    Details

    Food is cleared by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), not through SABER (a SABER code search for heading 0406, made on 28 October 2026, returned no result). Before importing, the importer must register its establishment and each food product in SFDA's GHAD system, submit the clearance request through Fasah, and use a licensed warehouse (exemptions for some factories and for importers with at most 5 shipments and 2,000 kg a year). Under the Food Law's implementing regulation, imported food is released only if it complies with SFDA's rules, the exporting establishment is licensed and registered with SFDA, the food is registered, the official documents accompany it and it is not banned. Registration asks for ingredients, nutrition facts and a copy of the nutrition label; a change of product, source or country of origin needs re-registration. SFDA may sample shipments at the importer's cost; the importer keeps clearance documents for five years.

  • MandatoryDocument

    Food shipments: documents submitted through Fasah

    Chapter 08

    Details

    SFDA's clearance guide lists documents submitted electronically through Fasah: a certificate of origin; a commercial invoice showing the products, quantities, expiry dates and batch numbers; the bill of lading; a health certificate and a phytosanitary certificate as SFDA's import conditions require; and an import permit for poultry meat, fish and aquatic products, and table eggs. It lists a certificate of conformity as optional for all countries and mandatory for some (whether Türkiye is one was not established). Food must comply with the approved technical regulations and SFDA's circulars.

  • MandatoryDocument

    Food: proof for halal, quality, organic and gluten-free claims

    Chapter 08

    Details

    Any logo or claim on a food label, such as a halal logo, quality mark, organic or gluten-free claim, must be backed by a certificate proving it (SFDA.FD/GSO 9 section 3.4, as cited in SFDA's clearance guide): an organic production certificate for organic products, a gluten-free certificate under GSO 1021 when gluten-free is claimed, and a quality certificate when a quality logo is shown.

  • MandatoryDocument

    Fresh fruit, vegetables and grains: phytosanitary certificate

    Chapter 08

    Details

    Fresh fruit and vegetables and grains need an official phytosanitary certificate from the exporting country's competent authority, in the format set by the Saudi competent authority. For frozen and processed fruit and vegetables SFDA may ask for a pesticide-residue certificate, and from some countries import is allowed only from approved establishments.

  • MandatoryLabel

    Food: Arabic label under SFDA rules

    Chapter 08

    Details

    Food labels and accompanying information must be in Arabic; any other language used must match the Arabic text (SFDA.FD/GSO 9, 'Labeling of Prepackaged Food Stuffs', as quoted in SFDA's clearance guide). The guide lists the specifications applied at clearance, including SFDA.FD/GSO 150-1 (mandatory expiration dates), SFDA.FD 2233 (nutritional labelling), SFDA.FD 2333 (health and nutrition claims), SFDA.FD/GSO 2500 (permitted additives) and SFDA.FD/GSO 2055-1 (halal food). The Food Law's implementing regulation bars handling food that lacks the required nutritional labelling, food past the expiry date on its label, and food with allergens not clearly indicated on the label. SFDA's food labelling calculator lists the nutrition panel items. Products imported only for manufacturing in Saudi factories (or for restaurant kitchens) may carry an English label against a commitment filed in Fasah. The standards are sold by SFDA and GSO; their text is not reproduced here.

  • MandatoryLabel

    Commercial data in Arabic on each unit (Commercial Data Law)

    Chapter 08

    Details

    The Commercial Data Law requires commercial data to be at least in Arabic and true. Its implementing regulations oblige the producer or importer to write the mandatory data on each unit, on the unit's package and on any container holding more than one unit, in a way that is hard to remove: number, quantity, size, measure, capacity, weight, price, and production and expiry dates; the place or country of manufacture or production; the components; and the name of the product or its manufacturer. For goods related to human, animal or environmental health, the components statement must also say whether the product is genetically modified, contains hazardous substances and how hazardous, or is irradiated. Other languages may be added; the Arabic text prevails. Importing or selling products without the mandatory data is prohibited. Technical regulations add product-specific label rules.

This is a suggestion; have your customs broker confirm it before any official step.

Your readiness file

KeremAISelling agent

Open a readiness file for your product

The checklist, your documents and the drafts in one place: you see at any time what is ready and what is missing.

  • Mark each item as I have it, Missing or Not sure
  • Upload your documents; each file is checked and kept safely
  • Get the Arabic label and the technical file's outline as drafts

Nothing is sent to anyone without your approval.

Create a free accountSign in

The file opens with your free account and is tied to a product on your company page.

Next steps

Rules notified to the WTO

Rules for this product in Saudi Arabia as notified to the WTO: draft regulations, emergency measures and their changes, newest first.

  1. G/SPS/N/SAU/633Food safety, animal and plant health (SPS)New ruleOpen for comments

    STRAWBERRIES

    Products: 67.080.00

    Notified on 12 October 2026Comments until 11 December 2026

    On ePing(opens in a new tab)The notification(opens in a new tab)

1 notification in all; 1 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:

  1. Registration in SABER

    The Saudi importer registers the product in SABER; the conformity of products technical regulations cover is documented there.

  2. 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.

  3. Shipment certificate (SCoC)

    Each shipment takes its own shipment certificate in SABER; customs asks for it.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

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