If a container is sitting at Jeddah or Dammam accruing storage charges, there is a good chance the reason is SABER. It is not a complicated system, but it is a sequential one, and starting it after the goods have shipped is the most expensive way to learn how it works.
What SABER is
SABER is the Saudi electronic platform that proves an imported product meets the technical regulations set by SASO, the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization. It replaced the older paper-based certificate of conformity process, and customs clearance for regulated goods will not complete without it.
The two certificates people confuse
This is where most importers come unstuck. SABER involves two distinct certificates and you need both.
- The Product Certificate of Conformity (PCoC) covers the product model itself. It is issued once, generally valid for a year, and requires technical documentation and often test reports from an approved conformity assessment body.
- The Shipment Certificate of Conformity (SCoC) covers one specific consignment. It is issued per shipment and cannot be obtained until the PCoC for that product already exists.
The sequence matters. If you request the shipment certificate for goods whose product certificate has not been issued, the request simply cannot proceed, and by then the vessel has usually already arrived.
Which products are regulated
Coverage is broad and expanding: electrical goods and appliances, toys, textiles, building materials, automotive parts, chemicals, cosmetics, machinery and much else. Some categories fall under other regulators instead. Food, medical devices and pharmaceuticals sit with the SFDA and follow a separate registration route.
The only reliable way to know is to check the HS code against the current regulated products list before you order, not before you ship.
Where it usually goes wrong
- The product description on the certificate does not match the commercial invoice word for word, so the two documents fail to reconcile at clearance.
- The supplier has a certificate for a similar model, not the exact model shipped.
- The product certificate expired between the order and the arrival, which is common on long lead-time manufacturing.
- The importer assumed the overseas supplier was handling it, and the supplier assumed the importer was.
Start SABER when you raise the purchase order, not when the vessel sails. The certificate costs the same either way; the storage charges do not.
A workable timeline
For a product with no existing certificate, allow two to four weeks for the product certificate, assuming test reports are already available. If laboratory testing is required, allow longer. The shipment certificate itself is fast once the product certificate exists, often the same day.
We check whether your commodity is regulated at quotation stage and arrange both certificates as part of the clearance scope. If you would like a specific HS code checked, send it to our compliance desk and we will come back the same working day.
