15 Feb 2017

Updates to Country of Origin Marking, Products and Product Packaging Labeling

Update to Saudi Requirements for Product Labeling

Listed below are the general rules for the marking and labeling of products being exported to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Exporters/Manufacturers are requested to ensure that the products they are exporting to KSA adhere to these marking requirements.

General Marking Requirements on the Product & the Product’s Packaging

All markings pertaining to warnings and safety instructions must be in Arabic or in Arabic and English.

For all other markings which do not pertain to warnings and safety instructions, the following shall apply:

  • If the product has an applicable Saudi-specific (SASO) standard or SASO-adopted standard, then the marking requirements should be as per the SASO standard. For Example: SASO ISO 13006/2016 Clause 8.1- Tiles and/or their packaging are required in a distinct unremovable way to bear the marking in Arabic or both Arabic and English.
  • If the product has no applicable SASO standard, but has an applicable Regional/International Standard (i.e. IEC/ISO/GSO/EN/ASTM, etc.), then the marking requirements should be as per the applicable Regional/International Standard.
  • In other cases where the product has no applicable specific standard or the language of the marking is not specified in the product’s applicable standard, then the marking language can be either in Arabic or English.

Instruction Manual

The instruction manual or pamphlet must be in Arabic language or both Arabic and English.

Country of Origin Marking

  • All Products must be marked with the Country of Origin (CoO) in the format “Made in xxx” or “Manufactured in xxx”. All other format/text for marking the CoO is not acceptable.
  • Dual CoO marking such as: “Designed in xxx, Made in yyy“ or “Assembled in xxx, Made in yyy“ or “Engineered in xxx, Made in yyy“ where xxx and yyy denote different countries of origin will not be accepted. It will only be accepted, if the name of the Manufacturer is clearly mentioned in the dual CoO marking text i.e. “Designed by [ Insert Manufacturer's Name ] in xxx, Made in yyy” and likewise for the other two dual CoO variations.
  • The Country of Origin (CoO) marking must be in Arabic or English.

If the product itself is too small in size and there is not enough space to fit the Country of Origin on it, then the Country of Origin can be marked on the product’s immediate packaging

Intertek continues to be able to help you understand the latest market access regulations in Saudi Arabia and has issued more than 2 million certificates and test reports to companies exporting worldwide.