‎The terms and phrases mentioned below, wherever they appear in this Regulation, shall have the meanings specified next to them, unless the context requires otherwise:

‎Law: ‎Animal Feed Law.

Regulation: Implementing Regulation of the Law.

‎Authority: Saudi Food and Drug Authority.

‎Council: Board of Directors of the Authority. ‎

President: ‎Chief Executive Officer of the Authority.

Animal Feed: Any substance prepared for animal nutrition, whether it is a single material, a mixed material, a manufactured product, a semi-manufactured product, raw material, or a substance used in the manufacturing, preparation, or processing of feed, whether derived from authorized plant or animal sources, or from aquatic organisms.

‎Feed Ingredients: An element or component of any group or mixture that constitutes the feed, including feed additives, whether these ingredients are of authorized plant or animal origin, aquatic organisms, or consist of organic or inorganic materials, and whether they contain nutritional value within the feed or not.

‎Animals: All animals, whether they are food-producing or non-food-producing, including aquatic organisms.

‎Trade: ‎The stages that animal feed or its components go through from primary production until they reach the beneficiary, including their import, export, manufacturing, preparation, processing, packaging, labeling, storage, transportation, possession, distribution, display, and sale. ‎

Feed Additives: Components that are intentionally added to the feed for technical purposes, to improve its taste, to increase its nutritional value, or to enhance the animal's production efficiency, whether these components contain nutritional value or not. ‎

Feed Mixtures (Premix): A mixture of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, or others, added to water or carried on a substance of authorized plant or animal origin, used in the manufacturing of feed to improve its efficiency.

‎Genetically Modified Products: Genetically modified organisms - whether plant or animal - used in animal nutrition, and feeds composed of genetically modified materials or organisms, or containing them, ‎or components produced from genetically modified organisms. ‎

Establishment: Any legal entity where one or more stages of trade occur. ‎

Trace: ‎The procedures or measures that enable tracking the feed, its components, or any of its sources, or any substance that enters it at any stage of its trade. ‎

Product Label: A statement, code, trademark, image, or description of the feed or its packaging, whether written, printed, drawn, marked, labeled, engraved, embossed, or attached to a container, lid, or wrapping. The withdrawal is the procedure or measure taken by the Authority to withdraw feed from the markets.

Recall: ‎The procedure or measure taken by the establishment to retrieve feed from the markets and prevent its trade. ‎ ‎

Good Manufacturing Practices: Part of the quality assurance process that ensures that products are consistently produced in a uniform manner and according to strict quality standards to achieve the intended purpose of their production, ‎according to the approved technical specifications.

‎Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point System: A system for protecting and controlling the safety of food products and animal feed, through controlling and managing critical points that may lead to a disruption in the production process, ‎and the safety and quality of the product. 

Technical Regulations: Mandatory documents that describe the characteristics of feed or methods of its production and manufacturing, including the instructions governing that, and include terms, symbols, explanatory data, and the specific label for the feed and its production and packaging methods.

‎Standard Specifications: A non-mandatory document containing requirements certified or adopted by the Authority.

‎Risk Analysis: A scientific approach aimed at assessing the risks of feed and how to control those risks, through three interrelated elements: risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication.

Raw Feed: Any material that has not been mixed with another material used in animal nutrition, whether it is of plant, animal, or authorized natural mineral origin.

Hazards: ‎Biological, chemical, physical, or other factors present in feed that can cause harm to animals when ingested.

License: ‎A document issued by the Authority to engage in any activities related to feed. ‎Contaminants: Substances that lead to the contamination of feed, whether they are chemical (such as heavy metals, dioxins, and pesticides), physical (such as foreign bodies or insects), microbial (such as Salmonella and coliform bacteria), or mycotoxins and others.

Batch: ‎One or more production runs or part of a production run produced within a specified time period, in a continuous process that ensures the final product has the same properties and specified quality standards.

Production Run: A specific quantity of feed product manufactured (produced) within a specified time period in a single manufacturing process or a consecutive series of processes so that it is homogeneous.

‎Animal By-products include the following:

1. By-products from animal farms (manure or poultry litter, cow, sheep, goat, camel dung, and by-products from poultry, dead chicks, and rotten eggs).

2. By-products from large animal slaughterhouses: (whole carcasses or parts thereof or organs that are damaged and unfit for human consumption, hides, hair, wool, horns, hooves, contents of the rumen and intestines, bladder, uterus, blood from dead animals, and animal dung in slaughterhouses).

‎3. By-products from poultry slaughterhouses (whole carcasses or parts thereof or organs that are damaged and unfit for human consumption, hides, hair, wool, horns, hooves, contents of the rumen and intestines, bladder, uterus, blood from dead animals, and animal dung in slaughterhouses). ‎

Plant By-products include the following:

‎1. By-products of plant origin are all by-products produced during the harvesting and collection of crops or during their preparation for marketing, such as straw and plant tops.

2. Agricultural processing by-products are those produced incidentally or secondarily during the preservation or processing of agricultural crops, such as: wheat milling by-products like bran, by-products from oil extraction and pressing such as various meals, as well as by-products from the packaging and processing of dates.

3. Other plant by-products such as: food processing by-products, and plant waste from kitchens and restaurants.

Consignment: A quantity of feed products covered by a single official certificate.

The Authority establishes the rules and procedures governing the following: ‎

1. Determining the feed materials and the conditions for their storage and packaging.

2. Registering imported feed products such as feed additives, feed mixtures, and concentrated and ready-made compound feeds.

3. Registering locally produced feed products, whether for local consumption or for export. ‎

4. Monitoring feed establishments and their trade. ‎

5. The traceability mechanism and the necessary records for it.

• 1.4 A license must be obtained from the authority before engaging in any of the following activities:

  • ‎A. Importing or exporting feed.

  • B. Manufacturing feed, which includes preparation, processing, and packaging.

  • ‎C. Storage, distribution, transportation, and sale.

• ‎2.4 The following conditions must be met to obtain the license:

  • ‎A. Filling out the license application form.

  • B. Attaching the documents specified by the authority.

  • ‎C. Obtaining approvals from other relevant authorities in accordance with their regulations, rules, and instructions.

  • D. The applicant for the license must commit to complying with the technical requirements set by the authority.

  • ‎E. Paying the financial fee for the license.

• ‎3.4 The authority issues the license for a period of 3 years.

• 4.4 The license is renewable for a similar duration or durations. The renewal applicant must submit their request at least 90 days before the expiration of the license, provided that they meet the requirements stipulated in paragraph 2.4 of this article. The duration of the license after renewal is calculated from the date of expiration of the previous license.

• 1.5 It is a condition for the clearance of imported feed or feed additives to obtain the approval of the Authority, according to the following: ‎

  • A. The establishment requesting the clearance must be licensed for import.

  • B. The feed or feed additives to be cleared must be registered with the Authority.

  • C. The feed or feed additives to be cleared must comply with the provisions of the Law, this Regulation, the technical regulations, and the circulars and decisions related thereto published by the Authority on its website.

  • D. The feed or feed additives to be cleared must be accompanied by the official documents and certificates specified by the Authority.

• ‎2.5 It is a condition for allowing the export of feed or feed additives to obtain the approval of the Authority, according to the following:

  • ‎A. The establishment requesting the export must be licensed for export. ‎

  • B. The feed or feed additives to be exported must be registered with the Authority.

  • C. The feed or feed additives to be exported must comply with the provisions of the Law, this Regulation, the technical regulations, and the circulars and decisions related thereto published by the Authority on its website.

  • D. The feed to be exported must not be subsidized by the state, or the subsidy value must be refunded to the competent authority before allowing its export.

• ‎3.5 The Authority issues a health certificate for feed products or feed additives prepared for export - if requested by the exporter - according to the following conditions:

  • ‎A. Submitting a request to the Authority for the certificate for each shipment separately.

  • ‎B. Filling out the certificate request form.

  • C. Attaching a list of the feed products or feed additives to be exported.

  • ‎D. Providing any document or paper specified by the Authority.

‎4.5 It is a condition for allowing the export of feed or feed additives that have previously been cleared to present the accompanying documents and certificates for the shipment at the time of clearance.

• ‎1.6 The following conditions must be met for the licensing of a laboratory that deals with animal feed:

  • ‎A. Filling out the license application form.

  • B. Attaching the documents specified by the authority.

  • C. Obtaining approvals from other relevant authorities in accordance with their applicable regulations and instructions.

  • D. The applicant for the license must commit to adhering to the technical requirements set by the authority.

  • ‎E. The applicant for the license must commit to appointing a Saudi technical manager specialized in laboratory work, who is fully dedicated to this role.

  • F. The applicant for the license must commit to providing the necessary technical staff of qualified specialists, as well as the equipment and devices required for laboratory work, in accordance with the size and nature of the work as determined by the authority.

  • ‎G. Payment of the licensing fee.

‎2.6 The authority issues the license for a period of 3 years.

3.6 The license is renewable for the same duration or periods, and the renewal applicant must submit their request at least 90 days before the expiration of the license, provided that they meet the requirements stipulated in paragraph 1.6 of this article. The duration of the license after renewal is calculated from the date of expiration of the previous license.

‎The announcement of animal feed is not permitted unless a license is obtained from the authority in accordance with the regulations issued by the authority in this regard, in addition to the following conditions and requirements:

1. The feed intended for announcement must be registered with the authority and comply with the technical regulations.

2. The announcement must not contain anything that contradicts Sharia provisions or public morals.

3. The information in the advertising material must be reliable, accurate, and truthful, and can be substantiated. 

4. The data included in the advertising material must be consistent with the content of the product label.

5. The announcement must not make any nutritional or health claims that contradict the technical regulations.

6. The announcement must not disparage another product, either directly or indirectly.

7. The announcement must not contain any written information, images, scenes, or any other form that misleads the consumer, including claims of containing ingredients that are not naturally part of its composition.

8. The name or logo of the authority must not be used directly or indirectly.

0. The image of the feed used in the announcement must match the actual image available in the market.

1.8 Genetically modified feed and its derivatives are subject to any new directions and requirements adopted by the Authority upon permission for their clearance.

2.8 Feed treated with irradiation is subject to the technical regulations specific to irradiation.

1.9 A system (center) for the rapid warning of feed shall be established within the authority to report any direct or indirect threat to human or animal health or public health originating from feed.

• 2.9 The rapid warning system for feed operates within the authority according to the following procedures:

  • ‎A. The rapid warning system for feed operates around the clock to collect information related to risks that may directly or indirectly affect human or animal health or public health and to study this information.

  • B. The rapid warning system shall identify points of contact in relevant governmental and private entities related to feed.

  • C. The establishment is obligated to provide the information requested by the rapid warning system regarding the feed it manufactures, produces, imports, exports, or distributes.

  • D. The protection of the establishment's professional secrets shall not hinder the provision of information related to the reported product to the rapid warning system if it is necessary to protect the health and safety of humans or animals or public health.

  • D. Points of contact shall provide the rapid warning system with all available information related to the reported feed and any measures taken in this regard as soon as possible, not exceeding twenty-four hours.

  • ‎W. The establishment shall notify the rapid warning system directly when there is reason to believe that the feed manufactured, produced, imported, exported, or distributed may pose a risk to the health and safety of humans or animals or public health.

  • Z. Points of contact shall inform the rapid warning system within 24 hours of any potential risk that may exist in the markets, and of all available information about the feed, even if the available information is incomplete, in accordance with the classification of reports outlined in the rapid warning system guide for feed.

  • H. The rapid warning system shall, when necessary, ensure that the points of contact and the concerned establishment have received the report within 24 hours.

  • T. The authority's border control departments shall notify the rapid warning system of any rejection of any feed shipment at the border crossings, along with the reason for the rejection.

• 1.10 It is required for feed manufacturers to use plant residues as feed that the following conditions are met: ‎

  • A. It must comply with phytosanitary requirements.

  • B. Radiation levels must be within the permissible limits set by the authority.

  • C. It must be free from prohibited substances.

  • D. Residues of antimicrobial agents must not exceed the maximum allowable limit set by the authority.

  • E. Residues of pesticides must not exceed the maximum allowable limit set by the authority.

  • ‎F. Contamination with heavy metals must not exceed the permissible limits set by the authority.

  • ‎G. Contamination with mycotoxins must not exceed the permissible limits set by the authority.

  • H. Pathogenic microbial contaminants must not exceed the permissible limits set by the authority. ‎

  • 2.10 The authority shall periodically verify the compliance of feed manufacturers with the principle of hazard analysis and the critical control point system.

1.11 Aquaculture farms include farms where marine fish, freshwater fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and aquatic plants are raised.

2.11 The unit producing fish feed within the aquaculture farm shall be treated as an establishment in terms of the application of the provisions of the Law and this Regulation.

3.11 The fish meal produced within the aquaculture farm must comply with the technical regulations.