DHA Clearance
Saudi Arabian Standard Organization (SASO) Certificate
What is it?
From 10th August 2009, the Saudi Arabia Customs Authorities require a Saudi Arabian Standard
Organisation (SASO) certificate (referred to as "Conformity Certificate) for the importation of certain
goods.
What commodities?
Examples of items that require a SASO Certificate are computers, computer parts, automotive (motor
or vehicles) spare parts and electrical parts.
In order to find out if a SASO certificate is required to import a commodity, a search based on the
Harmonised System code of the goods must be done on the Saudi Customs webpage.
These are the necessary steps:
1. Go to the Saudi Customs webpage: www.customs.gov.sa
2. Click on “TARIFF”
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Saudi Arabia – SASO Certificate
3. Click on “Tariff Search”
4. Insert the Harmonised System (HS) code of the goods, and do not forget to select the
correct option (H.S. Code), as shown in the image:
5. Click on the Procedure (it appears as a number):
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Saudi Arabia – SASO Certificate
6. In the “description” column, it will appear if the certificate is required.
For commodities with other import requirements, a different code may appear.
For example, the result of the search with the HS Code 21011210 (code of coffee), would be procedure
number 3. It means that it is also a restricted item, for which import a laboratory quality control is
required. The meaning of all possible procedures is listed on:
http://www.customs.gov.sa/CustomsNew/tariff/guide_E.aspx
But the SASO Certificate is only required when the procedure 21 is shown.
And when there are no requirements at all for a commodity, no procedure will appear:
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Saudi Arabia – SASO Certificate
By Whom and Where is it issued?
Inspections companies like Bureau Veritas or Intertek Testing Services offer this service.
It is issued at the country of origin.
If a consignment requiring a SASO certificate is detected at BAH, it is procured by the TNT local office
and the charges allocated to the consignee.
Non-compliance
Consignments without a SASO certificate will not be cleared and be returned back to origin without
prior notice.
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