SABER Certificate Guide for Saudi Importers (2026)

If you import products into Saudi Arabia to sell, SABER is your gatekeeper, and the good news is that the gate is almost entirely online.

SABER is the platform where you, the importer, prove your products meet Saudi safety rules. You open the account with your CR (commercial registration, your Saudi business licence). Then you register products, get certificates and link each shipment to them.

Done well, it becomes routine: most importers set it up once per product, then spend minutes on each new shipment.

This guide shows you how to run it from the importer's chair: the account, the certificates, the costs and what happens at the port.

What are SABER and SASO certificates?

SASO (the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization) writes the safety rules. SABER is SASO's online platform where those rules are applied to real products and shipments. That's why people say "SASO certificate" and "SABER certificate" for the same thing.

You'll deal with two certificates:

• Product Certificate of Conformity (PCoC). One per product or model family, issued by a SASO-approved certification body after it checks the test reports. It usually lasts a year.
• Shipment Certificate of Conformity (SCoC). One per shipment, which you issue on SABER against your valid PCoCs.

The PCoC is the permanent pass for the product. The SCoC is the ticket for each trip it makes.

SABER is linked to FASAH, the Saudi customs platform, so the customs officer sees your certificates before the container is even unloaded.

Want the factory's side of the same process? See the SABER guide for Chinese exporters.

Does your product need a SABER certificate?

Almost every commercial import passes through SABER, but how strict the check is depends on the product.

Here's how products split:

• Regulated products. A SASO technical regulation covers them: electricals, electronics, toys, machinery, textiles, building products and more. You need a PCoC from an approved body, then an SCoC per shipment.
• Non-regulated products. No specific regulation applies, such as a wooden serving tray. You register a self-declaration on SABER, then issue the SCoC.
• Production inputs. Goods not meant for display to consumers, like raw materials for your workshop, have their own SABER track.
• Food, cosmetics and medical devices. These go to the SFDA (Saudi Food and Drug Authority), not SABER. See SFDA rules for cosmetics and food.

How do you find out which group you're in? Search your HS code (the customs tariff code) on SABER when you add the product, and the platform shows the regulation that applies.

Some goods can't come in at all, whatever certificate they hold. Check the list of prohibited and restricted imports to Saudi Arabia before you place the order.

How to get a SABER certificate, step by step

The first four steps happen once per product, and the last two repeat for each shipment.

1

Create your SABER account with your CR

Choose the importer track and enter your CR details. The Ministry of Commerce verifies them. Then name your facility type and the delegated person (often called the contact officer) on a signed, stamped form.

2

Add your products

Search by HS code or keyword and pick the closest description. Enter the brand, the model numbers and the manufacturer exactly as they appear on the invoice.

3

Choose a certification body and submit

Select a SASO-approved body for your product's regulation. Share the request number with your supplier so they can upload test reports and the technical file.

4

Pay and receive the PCoC

Pay the SAR 500 SABER fee plus the body's own fee. Once the body approves, the PCoC is registered under your account.

5

Request the SCoC before each shipment

Click New shipment request, give it a reference name, pick the certified products and add quantities and the commercial invoice. Pay SAR 350.

6

Hand over to your customs broker

Your broker files the declaration on FASAH. Customs reads the SCoC electronically, and the goods move to inspection or release.

How long does it take? Plan for one to four weeks for a first PCoC, depending on whether new testing is needed. An SCoC is usually ready within one to five working days.

How to choose a certification body

The certification body (SASO calls it a conformity assessment body, or CAB) is the one supplier in this process you pick yourself, and a good one saves you weeks.

Here's what to check before you click submit:

1. Approval for your regulation. SABER only lists bodies approved for that technical regulation, and a body approved for toys may not be approved for electricals.
2. Reuse of existing reports. Ask whether they'll accept your supplier's IECEE CB, EN or IEC reports, because re-testing is where the cost climbs.
3. One certificate per model family. Ask whether one PCoC can cover several sizes or colours.
4. A written quote. Body fees aren't fixed by SASO, so get them per product family and in writing.

Steer clear of anyone who offers a certificate without seeing test reports, because fake certificates lead to seized goods.

Compare bodies side by side in our product certification directory.

What changed in 2025 and 2026?

The rules tightened in four ways, and each one favours importers who plan ahead.

The label rule matters most right now, so brief your factory before the next production run to put your company name and CR on the product or its packaging. Our GCC product labelling guide covers the other label details.

What happens at the port?

Once the ship docks, three things happen fast. Your broker files the FASAH declaration, customs pulls up your SCoC and the risk system picks a lane.

• Green lane. The paperwork matches and no inspection is needed, so release can take under two hours.
• Red lane. Customs inspects the goods, which usually adds two to five business days.
• No valid certificate. The shipment can be refused and sent back at your cost.

You'll also pay import duty, a small customs service fee and 15% VAT through FASAH. See GCC customs duties for the rates.

What does SABER cost you each year?

SABER's own fees are fixed, while the certification body's fee varies from a few hundred to a few thousand US dollars per product family.

For example, take a Jeddah home-goods store importing two regulated products, an LED desk lamp and a children's toy. It ships six sea consignments a year.

Doubling the shipments adds SAR 2,415 a year in SABER fees alone. Extra freight, broker and port charges come on top.

So consolidating into fuller containers pays twice, and the 90-day validity gives you room to time each shipment. Model your full per-unit cost with the landed cost calculator.

Notes for Amazon and noon sellers

Marketplaces check certificates too, especially for electricals, toys and other regulated categories.

• Keep PCoC numbers ready, because a category approval or listing review can ask for them.
• Amazon won't act as importer of record for cross-border stock going into FBA. Your CR, or a forwarder's IOR service, must hold the certificates.
• Issue an SCoC for every inbound shipment to FBA or FBN warehouses, even small top-ups.
• New to fulfilment? Start with Amazon FBA in Saudi Arabia.

Notes for UAE-based sellers

• Paying duty in Dubai doesn't clear SABER. Goods moving on to Saudi Arabia still need Saudi certificates.
• The UAE uses ECAS, run by MoIAT. Ask your certification body to quote ECAS, SABER and the GCC G-Mark together.
• Your Saudi importer must be the consignee on the truck paperwork when goods cross the border.

Notes for brands without a Saudi CR

No CR means no SABER account of your own, which is normal for a first launch.

• A Saudi distributor can import under its CR. Get a written agreement that the PCoCs registered for your products stay tied to them.
• An importer-of-record service imports in its name for a fee.
• Selling at scale? A Saudi company gives you full control. See Saudi business registration.

Find a certification body or broker

These independently researched bodies issue SABER certificates for Saudi importers.

Want someone to file the requests and clear the goods too? Compare customs brokers in Saudi Arabia, or browse the logistics hub.