Can I act as my own Importer of Record in Saudi Arabia?

In Saudi Arabia, all imports must be registered to a Saudi owned company. For our clients, this means they can rarely, if ever, act as their own Importer of Record. In many cases, our clients don’t even have an entity there and are simply trying to get their infrastructure into a data center or colocation facility. Even for our clients who do have a business entity with Saudi stakeholders, acting as an importer of electronic and IT goods is not a simple application. For example, importing into Saudi Arabia requires understanding and managing the Certificate of Conformity process and SABER system.

Are there any additional documents I will need when importing IT Equipment into Saudi Arabia?

When importing into Saudi Arabia you will need to obtain a number of “Certificates of Conformities” (CoC). Generally speaking, a CoC is a certificate issued by the manufacturer via an independent lab to certify that a piece of equipment meets certain requirements.

There are 3 main types of certificates of conformity you need to obtain:

• Product Certificate of Conformity: Also known as a Type Approval Certificate. A Product CoC should be issued on a per importer basis and is good for a particular product for up to a year. This CoC certifies that a product meets all necessary standards of production and safety set by the Saudi government.

• Shipment Certificate of Conformity: A Shipment CoC is very similar to the Product CoC but instead of focusing on any one particular product, it looks at whether or not the entire shipment itself meets regulatory requirements. The Shipment CoC requires Product CoCs for all the products in the shipment as well as an invoice, packing list, or bill of materials.

• Self Declaration of Conformity: A Self Declaration is only applicable if you manufactured the product that is being tested. If you are providing a Self Declaration of Conformity you should include this in the Shipment CoC, in place of the Product CoC.