• The following words and terms wherever they appear in these regulations shall have the meanings indicated before each of them, unless the context requires otherwise:

  • Authority: Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority.
  • Governor: Governor of the Authority.
  • Unified Customs Law "the Law": The Unified Customs Law of the GCC countries issued by Royal Decree No. (M/14) dated 3/11/1423 AH.
  • Implementing Regulation: The Implementing Regulation of the Unified Customs Law issued by Ministerial Decision No. (2748) dated 25/11/1423 AH.
  • Unified Customs Procedures Guide: The Unified Customs Procedures Guide issued pursuant to Council of Ministers Decision No. (373) dated 12/8/1436 AH.
  • Regulations: The regulations governing customs procedures.
  • Customs Circle: The area defined by the Minister at each sea, air, or land port or any other place where an administrative center exists licensed to complete all or some customs procedures.
  • Customs Declaration: The goods declaration or admission or statement submitted by the owner of the goods or his representative, including the identification of the distinctive elements of the declared goods and their quantities in detail in accordance with the provisions of the Unified Customs Law.
  • Customs Tax ("Duties"): The amounts collected on goods in accordance with the provisions of the Unified Customs Law.
  • Goods: Any natural material or animal, agricultural, industrial, or intellectual product.
  • Restricted Goods: Goods whose import or export is restricted pursuant to the provisions of the Law or any of the laws or decisions issued by the competent authorities.
  • Prohibited Goods: Goods whose import or export is prohibited by the State based on the provisions of the Law or any of the laws or decisions issued by the competent authorities.
  • Transit Goods: Goods transiting through the territory of the Kingdom in accordance with the provisions of the applicable laws and international agreements, and in accordance with the provisions of the Law.
  • Customs Tariff: The schedule including the names of goods, the categories of customs duties applicable to them, and the rules and notes contained therein for types and categories of goods.
  • Owner of the Goods: The natural or legal person who imports, exports, or transports goods by transit, or authorizes others to perform some or all of these actions.
  • Customs Zone: The part of the land or seas subject to customs procedures and control in accordance with the provisions of the Law.
  • Free Zone: The building or licensed place where goods are deposited in a suspended status for customs duties and value-added tax purposes for display and sale.
  • Electronic Platform: The platform approved by the Authority to complete customs procedures for goods.
  • Document Archiving: Submission of all required documents related to the clearance of goods through the electronic platform in accordance with what the Authority determines.
  • Invoice: A detailed document issued by the seller to the buyer, showing the products, quantities, and agreed prices for the products or services provided.
  • Containers: Large boxes equipped with doors or detachable side panels, provided with fittings to facilitate loading and unloading on the surface of vehicles, trains, or ships carrying them, commercially valuable, durable, reusable, designed to accommodate goods, and can be sealed for verification purposes to ensure they are not opened.
  • Pallets: Wooden or metal bases or surfaces slightly raised from the ground by beams to load goods on them, designed to be lifted and transported by machinery designated for this purpose such as forklifts, commercially valuable and reusable.
  • Trailers: Commercially valuable transport vehicles running on non-motorized wheels arranged in one or two rows or more, equipped with devices to connect and tow them by vehicles and machinery prepared for this purpose, used for transporting materials and goods.
  • Shipping Agent: The natural or legal person licensed by the competent authority who represents the owner, lessee, or operator of the marine transport means to handle all or some matters related to this means or the goods loaded thereon in the Kingdom.
  • Bill of Lading: A document issued by the carrier at the shipper’s request upon receipt of the goods, indicating the transport data and its conditions.
  • Shipping Policy: A document or contract issued by the carrier ("shipping line") or shipping agent to the owner of the shipped goods, acknowledging receipt of the goods for shipment, specifying the goods being shipped, the origin, and the destination of the shipment.
  • Cargo Manifest: The document submitted by the carrier or its representative which includes a comprehensive description of the goods loaded on various means of transport.
  • Inspection: Full or partial inspection of the goods by the competent employee or by X-ray devices or documentary examination, aimed at verifying the type, origin, source, condition, quantity, value of the goods, and their conformity with the customs declaration and related documents.
  • Customs Clearance: Documentation of customs data for imported, exported, and transit goods in accordance with the customs procedures stipulated in the Law.
  • Deposit Areas: Areas where goods are deposited in a suspended status for customs duties and taxes, including one or more warehouses where activities specified in the rules of deposit areas are practiced, issued pursuant to Administrative Decision No. (28918) dated 25/5/1445 AH and its amendments.

The present Rules shall regulate the customs procedures set forth in the Common Customs Law that grants the Governor (Director-General) the powers to identify said procedures. Persons involved in the import, export and transit of goods shall be subject to the provisions of these Rules

• 1- When submitting the customs declaration, the following documents must be attached:

  • A- The invoice.
  • B- The bill of lading, or the export statement in case the goods arrive through land ports.
  • C- The certificate of origin or proof of origin certificate for goods whose origin is difficult to establish, or in case of claiming preferential treatment, in accordance with the approved forms under the relevant free trade agreements.
  • D- The necessary certificates and documents based on the request of the competent government authorities according to the nature of the imported goods, such as special security permits for importing certain restricted goods, health certificates, or others.
  • E- Compliance with the documents and papers stipulated in the Unified Customs Procedures Guide.

• 2- The provisions of paragraph (1) of this article apply to all goods imported into the Kingdom, whether through customs ports or areas where goods are in a suspended customs duty status such as deposit areas, customs warehouses, special economic zones, special logistics zones, and free markets. The governor has the discretion to exempt the submission of any document listed in paragraph (1).

• 3- The certificate of origin may be submitted after completing the clearance procedures for the goods, according to the conditions and regulations specified in the relevant free trade agreements and in accordance with the provisions of the Unified Customs Law and its executive regulations.

• 4- In case it is not possible to present any of the required documents, customs clearance procedures may be completed against cash or bank guarantees, or a written undertaking to provide the documents, provided that the period for submitting the documents does not exceed ninety (90) days from the date of registering the customs declaration.

• 5- The Authority may request any additional documents when importing goods, including the global trade item number (GS1 system) for each item, or any other international standard numbering system, or the documents necessary for valuing or classifying the goods.

• 6- The Authority may accept postal declaration forms (CN22) and (CN23) as customs declarations for ordinary mail and conduct inspection and examination of parcels according to the risk criteria applied by it.

• 7- The Authority may, based on risk criteria, request additional documents before release, including the original purchase invoice, the full invoice chain from the manufacturer to the final importer, sales contracts, bank-approved payment documents, a copy of the letter of credit, and a certificate of non-tampering.

• 1- Subject to paragraph (7) of Article Three of these regulations, all documents shall be archived and retained electronically, and these documents shall have the evidentiary value of the original. Documents related to personal shipments transported via express delivery companies are excluded from this provision.
• 2- All parties involved in the goods clearance process must retain the original documents for a period of five (5) years from the date of submitting the customs declaration.

• 1. When submitting the customs declaration, a detailed invoice shall be attached, whether original or electronic. 2. Except for the provisions stipulated for in Paragraph (1) of this Article, the finalization of the clearance procedures may be finalized without presentation of the invoice against an undertaking to produce thereof within a period not exceeding (90) days from the date of undertaking accompanying the customs declaration.

Without prejudice to the provisions of the Common Customs Law and its Implementing Regulations, ZATCA may estimate the value of the goods in accordance with the Law and its Implementing Regulations, in the event that it is not possible to produce an invoice for the imported goods

• The shipping agent must provide the data and documents specified in Article (30) of the Unified Customs Law for goods arriving through seaports at least (72) hours before the ship arrives at the customs area, and at least (6) six hours before its arrival from ports where the journey takes less than (72) hours.