Doing Business in Saudi Arabia - International Franchise Association

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Conformity Assessment Return to top
Since its inception in 1995, the certification program known as the ICCP was applicable
to 66 regulated products. The purpose of the program was to insure consumer
protection and that products entering Saudi Arabia conform to SASO standards. SASO
was in charge of implementing and monitoring the International Conformity Certification
Program (ICCP). They have done so through an agreement with Intertek, which has
global presence.
Under its WTO commitments, Saudi Arabia will comply with all obligations under the
WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade from the date of accession, and without
recourse to any transition period. As such, Saudi Arabia has committed to remove the
mandatory, pre-market approval requirements for imports (ICCP) and to implement a
non-discriminatory, post-market surveillance mechanism applicable to both foreign and
domestic product at no cost to suppliers. As of the date of this report, Saudi Arabia still
mandates that a Certificate of Conformity (CoC) must accompany all consumer goods
exported to the country. Exceptions include food products, medical products including
medicines, medical equipment, and components/products of large industrial projects.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is responsible for the Certificate of Conformity
(CoC) program under the jurisdiction of Dr. Hamad Al-Oufi, Director General for Quality
Control & Inspection, who can be reached by phone at (+966-1) 401-3265 or by fax at
(+966-1) 402-2539.
Product Certification Return to top
SASO has its own certification organization for locally manufactured products, as several
SASO employees have been certified to work as professional auditors in conformance
with ISO 9000 series standards.
For imported products, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry will implement the CoC
program, which should be abolished under Saudi Arabia’s WTO accession
commitments.
For beef and poultry meat imported from the United States, Saudi Arabia has agreed to
recognize a two-certificate approach: (1) an official FSIS export certificate issued for
beef and poultry meat and (2) a producer or manufacturer self-certification to cover any
additional requirements not related to food safety or animal health issues such as animal
protein free feed declaration.
Moreover, the Kingdom’s Government has also agreed that any maximum residue
requirements for synthetic hormones in animal products would be consistent with
international standards.
Accreditation Return to top
SASO is the only Saudi entity that is empowered to accredit.