Saber Platform

Saber is an electronic platform in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, dedicated to facilitating the work of suppliers and factory owners, and registering conformity certificates for consumer products, whether imported or locally produced, before entering the Saudi market. This platform is overseen by the Saudi Standards, Metrology, and Quality Organization (SASO) in cooperation with Thiqah Business Services.

The platform limits products that do not conform to SASO specifications while facilitating the clearance of compliant consumer products through Saudi customs by electronically issuing conformity certificates for local and imported products.

The platform offers several services, including product registration, issuing certificates of conformity for shipment conformity, and managing establishment accounts. Facilities registration begins with entering the commercial register data, which is then verified by the Ministry of Commerce. Once verified, the next step is to complete the application form, which includes facility type, delegated person, and adding his signature and stamp. Afterward, beneficiaries can add products, describe them, and request conformity certificates.

The platform offers services through the Commercial Products Track for products sold in the Saudi market, whether imported or locally manufactured, to issue the required certificates for consumer products. Additionally, there is a track for Products not Intended for Display to the Consumer, such as shipments imported by individuals for construction or renovation purposes. The platform also launched the Vehicle Import Service for individuals importing used vehicles.

In the first half of 2023, the platform registered eight hundred thousand products. More than 170,000 conformity certificates and 350,000 shipment certificates were issued. The number of registered traders exceeded six thousand.

By the end of 2023, six million products had been registered on the platform since its launch in 2020, and over 3.5 million conformity and shipment certificates were issued. Meanwhile, the number of beneficiaries of the platform reached about eighty thousand, and it supported the Conformity Index to reach 83.14 percent.

The platform connects several government entities, including the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, SASO, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA), the Communications, Space, and Technology Commission, the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority, and the Anti-Commercial Concealment Program.

Products are added to the platform using a customs Harmonization Code called the HS-Code, which includes the description of goods, their designations, and the tariff categories they fall under. The HS-Code is used to classify goods and determine their tariff. Users can search the Saber Platform or ZATCA website using the HS-Code, then select the product with the closest description among the search results. If the HS-Code is unavailable, the search can be done using keywords.

ZATCA, in cooperation with SASO, implemented a digital integration between Fasah and Saber Platforms to speed up customs procedures, making them more flexible for traders and importers. Fasah is a unified electronic system for import and export, offering more than 135 services related to customs and trucks.

'The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources along with SASO announced an electronic integration between 'Saber' and 'Senaei' Platforms. This aims to enable and support national plants that have obtained exemptions for raw materials, machinery, or spare parts, to issue shipment certificates through 'Saber' e-Platform electronically. The system automatically verifies the plant's eligibility via the 'Senaei' Platform, issuing the certificate immediately without any financial costs.