Most stone shipments that get held at Saudi ports are held for paperwork, not for anything wrong with the stone. Conformity documentation is the single most common cause of delay, and it is entirely avoidable with planning.

This post explains the process as it applies to natural stone, what the exporter has to provide, and where importers most often get caught out.

What SABER is

SABER is Saudi Arabia’s electronic conformity platform, operated under the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO). It exists to verify that products entering the Kingdom meet applicable Saudi standards before they arrive.

It replaced the older paper-based certificate of conformity system. Everything now runs through the platform, and the process has two distinct stages that importers frequently conflate.

The two certificates, and why the distinction matters

Product Certificate of Conformity (PCoC) — issued against the product itself. It confirms that a defined product, from a defined manufacturer, meets the applicable standards. It is valid for a period, typically a year, and covers repeat shipments of that same product within that period.

Shipment Certificate of Conformity (SCoC) — issued against each individual consignment. It links a specific shipment, with its specific invoice and bill of lading, to a valid PCoC.

The practical implication: you obtain the PCoC once and renew it periodically. You obtain an SCoC for every container. Importers who assume the first certificate covers everything are the ones whose fourth shipment sits at the port.

What the exporter provides

Your conformity body will ask for technical documentation about the product. For natural stone this typically includes:

• Product description and commercial name of the stone variety
• Material type and composition
• Dimensions, thickness and finish
• Intended application
• Manufacturer details and country of origin
• Test reports where applicable, against the relevant standards

We provide this documentation as a standard part of supplying Saudi customers. The important point is that what is documented must match exactly what ships. If the specification changes mid-project — a thickness change, a finish change, a variety substitution — the documentation has to be updated before the container sails, not after it arrives.

Choosing a conformity body

Certification is issued by conformity assessment bodies approved to operate on the SABER platform. Several operate in the market, with different fee structures and turnaround times.

Choose one early and stay with them. Their familiarity with your product and your documentation set materially speeds up repeat certification, and switching bodies mid-programme means starting the familiarity curve again.

The commercial documentation set

Alongside conformity, the standard import documentation applies:

• Commercial invoice
• Packing list
• Bill of lading
• Certificate of origin
• Insurance documentation as applicable

HS codes by stone type: marble 2515.12, granite 2516.11, sandstone 2506.10, limestone 2521.00, slate 6803.00, quartzite 2506.20.

Correct HS classification matters more than importers assume. A misclassified consignment can trigger inspection, and an inspection at a busy port adds days at best.

Customs processing runs through the Fasah platform. Your clearing agent will handle the submission; what they need from you is a complete and consistent document set. Inconsistencies between the invoice, the packing list and the bill of lading are a common trigger for scrutiny.

ISPM15 and packaging compliance

All wooden packaging — crates, pallets, dunnage — must be heat-treated and carry the ISPM15 mark. This is separate from product conformity and is checked independently.

Non-compliant timber can result in fumigation at the importer’s cost, or in the worst case refusal of the consignment. We use ISPM15-compliant, heat-treated, marked timber on every shipment as standard.

How to build the timeline into your programme

The sequence that works:

1. Confirm the specification and freeze it
2. Exporter provides technical documentation
3. Importer applies for the PCoC through a conformity body
4. PCoC issued
5. Order processed — 15 to 25 working days
6. Shipping documents issued
7. Importer applies for the SCoC against the shipment documents
8. Container sails — 10 to 14 days to Jeddah or Dammam
9. Clearance and inland haulage

Start step 3 in parallel with step 5, not after it. Importers who wait until the container is loaded before beginning certification lose the parallel-processing time and add weeks to the programme.

The three most common failure points

Specification drift. The certificate says 20 mm honed; the shipment is 30 mm polished. Any change must flow through to the documentation before shipping.

Expired PCoC on a repeat order. The certificate has a validity period. On a project running eighteen months, it will need renewal mid-programme. Diarise it.

Late SCoC application. The shipment certificate needs the actual shipping documents. Applying only after the vessel has arrived means the container waits at the port while the certificate is processed, incurring demurrage.

What we do on our side

We have shipped to Saudi Arabia since 2006 and supply the technical documentation package as part of the order process. We keep specification records so that repeat and phased orders match what was certified, and we flag specification changes before they reach the shipping stage.

Send us your requirement and we will confirm within 24 hours what documentation we can supply.

Note: this guidance is general and requirements change. Confirm current conformity requirements with an approved conformity assessment body or your Saudi clearing agent before shipping.

Shipping stone into Saudi
Arabia? We supply the technical documentation package with every order. Talk to our export team