• The following words and phrases - wherever they appear in this regulatory arrangement - shall have the meanings indicated opposite them unless the context requires otherwise:

  • 1- Water Factories: Facilities that produce potable water, including the following:

    • A- Bottled Water Factories: Industrial facilities that produce potable water, bottled in sanitary containers of varying capacities, hermetically sealed, and compliant with the Saudi standards for drinking water and the packaged food labeling.
    • B- Deleted.
    • C- Deleted.
    • D- Ice Factories: Industrial facilities that convert water into ice suitable for human consumption.

  • 2- Technical License: The license issued by the competent authority to establish bottled water factories or ice factories, after reviewing the technical and engineering designs and approving the treatment and bottling methods.

  • 3- Municipal License: The license issued by the Ministry of Municipal and Housing Affairs to establish or open a bottled water factory or an ice factory, where the license is specific to the location and complies with the Ministry’s regulations and conditions.

The organizational arrangement for water factories aims to define the role of government entities, their jurisdictions, responsibilities, and the tasks assigned to them in all matters related to water factories. This organizational arrangement does not include the water of Zamzam.

• The Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture shall undertake the following tasks concerning water factories:

  • 1- Issuing technical licenses for the use of water resources, and the disposal of solid and liquid waste.
  • 2- Monitoring existing factories to ensure their compliance with the requirements and regulations governing the use of water resources and the disposal of residues.
  • 3- Deleted.
  • 4- Deleted.

The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs - through its secretariats and municipalities - is responsible for the following tasks:
1- Issuing municipal licenses for water factories.
2- Monitoring bottled water in factories and markets as a food product, and transferring the powers and technical tasks to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority after completing its organizational, human, and material readiness; in accordance with Article (20) of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority System, issued by Royal Decree No. (M/6) dated 25 / 1 / 1428 AH, including all regulatory, executive, and supervisory tasks stipulated by the Authority's system.
3- Linking the issuance of municipal licenses to the approval of the Ministry of Water and Electricity (regarding water sources), and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (regarding bottled water factories and ice factories), taking into account their location in an area not directly or indirectly exposed to any source of pollution, and their distance from any other industrial facility that has a negative impact on the environment, and ensuring the distance of water tanks from sources of groundwater pollution, in accordance with the health requirements regulation issued under Ministerial Decision No. (33492/5/W F) dated 30 / 7 / 1420 AH.

• The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, and the Ministry of Commerce - each within its jurisdiction - shall undertake the following tasks:

  • 1- Issuing the industrial license and commercial register for water factories.

  • 2- Supervising water factories until the transfer of technical authorities and tasks to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority after completing its organizational, human, and material readiness; pursuant toArticle (Twenty) of the Law of the General Food and Drug Authority.

The Saudi Food and Drug Authority is responsible for the following tasks:
1 - All regulatory, executive, and supervisory tasks related to bottled water factories and ice factories; in accordance with Article (20) of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority System, issued by Royal Decree No. (M/6) dated 25 / 1 / 1428 AH. The Authority is to issue the technical licenses for these factories and monitor bottled water and ice in the markets.
2 - Establishing mandatory standard specifications for drinking water and monitoring them, as well as setting the proper foundations for food and pharmaceutical manufacturing and the health requirements that must be met in water facilities and their factories according to its system.
3 - The Board of Directors of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority shall determine - in accordance with Article (21) of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority System - the stages of transferring the regulatory, executive, and supervisory tasks from the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority.

Formation of a working team chaired by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, with the membership of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Water and Electricity, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the Ministry of Health, to cooperate and coordinate, and exchange information in the field of health awareness regarding the dangers of drinking water contamination and waterborne diseases; to elevate the health level of water and its safety, and to enhance public health.

The Ministry of Investment (Comprehensive Service Center) - through representatives from the relevant authorities - shall provide its services to investors in drinking water in a manner that ensures the unification of the entity receiving the claims, the resolution of those claims, and the prompt completion of transactions, to facilitate the investor's task in completing their requests.

The Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones - when allocating industrial lands for bottled drinking water factories - must ensure that they are located away from factories that have a negative impact on the environment, and away from air pollutants such as vapors and harmful materials, and must ensure that water tanks are distanced from sources of pollution. 

Bottled water factories must actively cooperate with the Quality Mark program and the global accreditation bodies and associations for bottled water factories, to enhance their presence in the local bottled drinking water industry.