What is a Saber certificate and how do you register?
When you sell into Saudi Arabia, one of the most valuable documents attached to your product will not carry your company’s name. A Saber certificate is the conformity record that Saudi customs checks before releasing regulated goods.
Saudi Customs issues it to the Saudi importer. The importer renews it, and it cannot be transferred to anyone else.
For a business planning to grow in the Kingdom, choosing the importer matters as much as finding the buyer.
Three names are often confused:
SASO (Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization) is the standards authority.
SALEEM is the national product safety program.
Saber is the electronic platform the program runs on.
Assessment happens before shipment, making Saber a form of pre-shipment verification, much like Nigeria's SONCAP certificate. Saber covers goods entering Saudi Arabia only. A US or European company doesn't hold one for its home market; it provides the technical file behind it.
Which Saber certificates do you actually need?
Saber is not one certificate. What a shipment needs depends on how the product is classified, and there are four routes.
Route | Applies to | Validity | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
Shipment Certificate of Conformity (SCoC) | Every shipment entering Saudi Arabia | One consignment | What Saudi Customs checks at the port; without it, the shipment is refused entry |
Product Certificate of Conformity (PCoC) | Regulated products, one per product model | One year, renewable | Confirms the product meets the applicable technical regulation, and is issued by a SASO-approved certification body |
Quality Mark | Certain product groups, such as gas appliances | Set by the applicable regulation | A SASO mark displayed on the product and packaging |
Self-declaration | Non-regulated products | Set on the platform | The importer declares conformity on the platform, without a full assessment |
Who is responsible for the Saber certificate?
Saber is an importer-based platform. The Saudi importer registers, selects the certification body, and requests both certificates, and the PCoC is issued in that importer’s name.
That is why the platform needs an importer of record. The exporter or manufacturer supplies the technical file: specifications, test reports, photographs, and declarations.
Registration: the platform requires a Saudi commercial registration.
Ownership: certificates are tied to the importer named on them and cannot be transferred to a different importer.
Issuing: a SASO-approved certification body assesses and issues the certificate, while the importer holds it.
How to register in Saber?
Classify the product (exporter and importer): The HS code decides which technical regulation applies and which route the product takes.
Register on the platform (importer): The Saudi importer creates an account on saber.sa using its commercial registration.
Add the products (importer, using the exporter’s file): The importer enters product names in Arabic and English, the manufacturer’s details, high-resolution photographs, and test reports.
Apply for the PCoC (importer selects, certification body assesses): The importer selects a SASO-approved body on the platform. That body reviews the technical file, may require testing or a factory audit, and issues the PCoC.
Request the SCoC (importer): When the goods are ready, the importer uploads the commercial invoice and requests the shipment certificate. The platform checks that every regulated item has a valid PCoC.
Clear customs (importer): Saudi Customs checks the SCoC at the port of entry before releasing the goods.
Which products need a Saber certificate?
Every shipment needs a shipment certificate. Whether a product also needs a product certificate depends on its HS code, not its name.
Product groups commonly regulated include:
electrical and electronic devices
home appliances and lighting
vehicle spare parts
textiles and clothing
building materials, paints and coatings
toys and children’s products
detergents and lubricating oils
Saber certificate cost, timeline, and validity
The cost
There is no single price, because the total has three parts:
Platform fee: charged per certificate.
Certification body fee: varies by body, product, and risk class.
Testing: needed where valid test reports do not already exist, and usually the highest cost.
Timeline and validity
Timeline: plan in weeks, not days. Correct classification and ready test reports shorten it.
PCoC validity: one year per product model, renewed on the platform.
SCoC validity: one consignment.
Renewal risk: an expired PCoC blocks new shipment certificates.
Final thoughts
Most Saber guides treat certification as a testing problem.
For a foreign exporter, the first problem is the platform itself, because it only opens for a Saudi importer. Settle who that importer is, get the HS code right, and keep the product certificates current.
Once those three are in place, the shipment certificate is routine.
Your product is ready. Your importer should be too.
Saber opens only for a Saudi importer, and we handle everything from the first registration to the final clearance.
We request your certificates in our name, match every consignment to a valid PCoC, and release your goods at the port, without you setting up a Saudi entity.
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The product certificate is valid for one year per product model and is renewed on the platform. The shipment certificate covers a single consignment. If the product certificate lapses, no new shipment certificates can be issued, so renew it before it expires.
Yes, for product certificates: each regulated product model needs its own PCoC. Each PCoC can be reused across shipments while the importer and product stay the same. One shipment certificate covers the whole consignment, but a mixed shipment of ten regulated products needs ten product certificates behind it.
For regulated products, no. A SASO-approved certification body assesses the product and issues the certificate. For non-regulated products, the importer can self-declare conformity on the Saber platform instead.
Both are done through the importer’s account on saber.sa. The certification body that issued a certificate can also confirm it.
Not for its home market. Saber applies only to goods entering Saudi Arabia, and the certificate is held by the Saudi importer. A US or European exporter supplies the technical file behind it.
No. SASO is the standards authority, and Saber is the platform it uses. The older SASO certificate of conformity program was replaced by Saber, but SASO still sets the technical regulations.
Saudi Customs will not clear it. The goods are refused entry and may have to be re-exported, and goods held at the port build up costs in the meantime.
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