They sit at different points of the same process, and people often order them the wrong way round. A product certificate (PCoC) covers your product for a year. A shipment certificate (SCoC) covers this container. You need both, in that order, and the fee for the wrong one is not refunded.
Not sure which one you were asked for?
A PCoC — Product Certificate of Conformity — approves that a named group of models meets the Saudi rule its HS code falls under. It is valid for twelve months, it is based on approved lab test reports, and you get it once and renew it each year.
An SCoC — Shipment Certificate of Conformity — approves that one shipment matches that already-approved product. It is valid for that shipment only, it is based on the commercial invoice and packing list rather than test reports, and you get it every time you ship.
The SCoC is issued against the PCoC and cannot exist without it. That one rule explains almost every expensive mistake on this page.
Seven points each. If you only read one section on this page, read the last point of both columns.
Eight points. The two that catch people out are what evidence each needs, and what happens when one of them is missing.
The PCoC approves a product. The SCoC approves a shipment of that product. One is about design and evidence, the other about this container.
Twelve months against one shipment. The PCoC is a standing approval; the SCoC is a one-time event.
The PCoC is based on approved lab test reports and product documents. The SCoC is based on an invoice and a packing list that match.
Days to weeks for a PCoC, depending on testing. One to four working days for an SCoC, provided the documents agree.
A certification body (CB) checks the PCoC. The importer applies for the SCoC, and the platform checks it against the valid product certificate.
The PCoC is the main cost, paid once a year. The SCoC is a small fee each time you ship.
No PCoC means no SCoC can ever be issued. No SCoC means this shipment sits at the port accruing storage fees.
The PCoC is renewed, checked again against whatever rules are then in force. The SCoC is simply issued again, per shipment, as always.
In order, from checking the HS code to renewal. The process breaks at the last step more often than at any other.
Your Saudi HS code decides whether a rule applies. Regulated goods need a product certificate; goods that are not regulated go straight to a self-declared shipment certificate.
Product documents put together, evidence checked, certificate issued against a named model list under the Saudi importer’s account. This happens once, before any shipping.
For each shipment, the importer applies for a shipment certificate against the valid PCoC and matches it with the commercial invoice and packing list.
Saudi Customs reads the shipment certificate online. The PCoC is never shown — it is what made the SCoC possible in the first place.
Shipment certificates stop the moment the product certificate expires. Renewing at ninety days keeps the process unbroken.
Six situations. Find yours before you accept a quotation for either certificate.
You need both, in order. The PCoC first, then an SCoC for the shipment. Budget the PCoC as the main project and the SCoC as a small step after it.
An SCoC each time. Nothing else, until the PCoC gets close to expiring or you add a model to the range.
Update the PCoC first, then the SCoC. Shipping the new model on the old certificate is the most common reason a shipment stops.
A second PCoC. The certificate names one company registration (CR), so the new distributor cannot get shipment certificates against yours.
An SCoC only, on a self-declaration basis. There is no PCoC because there is no Saudi rule to check against.
An SCoC urgently — but only if the PCoC is valid. If it has expired, the product certificate has to be rebuilt first and the storage fees run meanwhile.
Most wrong orders start as a naming problem, not a rules problem. When someone writes “CoC”, ask which level they mean.
Six mistakes that come straight from mixing the two up, and what each one costs in practice.
The request cannot be made. The week spent waiting for it is a week not spent on the product certificate that was needed first.
A perfectly valid certificate for the wrong purpose. Customs is looking for the shipment certificate, and the cargo waits either way.
It allows them. It does not produce them — each shipment still needs its own certificate issued and matched.
Or the reverse: telling a buyer four days when the product certificate has not been started. The two timelines are not the same.
Treating the shipment certificate as the place to declare a new model. What is covered is decided at the product certificate, not at the invoice.
Two distributors trying to get shipment certificates against one PCoC. Only the named company registration (CR) can.
Each certificate in full, the documents behind them, and where they sit among the other Saudi approval routes.
The difference itself. Each certificate has its own page for the detail.
A PCoC approves a group of products against the Saudi rule that applies to it, is valid for twelve months and is based on approved lab test reports. An SCoC approves that one shipment matches that already-approved product, is valid for that shipment only and is based on the commercial invoice and packing list. You need both, in that order.
For regulated products, yes. The PCoC is got once and renewed each year; an SCoC is issued for every shipment against it. For products that are not regulated there is no PCoC, but a shipment certificate is still needed each time on a self-declaration basis.
The shipment certificate. It is read online at clearance for the specific shipment. The product certificate never appears at the border — its role is to make the shipment certificate possible.
Only for goods that are not regulated, where no rule applies and the shipment certificate is self-declared. For regulated goods the request simply cannot be made: the platform has nothing valid to attach it to.
The PCoC, by a wide margin — it carries the testing, the product documents and the certification body’s (CB) check. The SCoC is a small fee each time. Over a year of frequent shipping, though, the shipment certificates add up and are worth planning around.
A PCoC is usually three to twelve working days at the certification body (CB) once the documents are complete, with testing before that often taking the most time. An SCoC is usually one to four working days, provided the invoice and packing list match the certified model list.
Look at what it names. A product certificate carries a model list, a Saudi rule and a twelve-month expiry. A shipment certificate carries an invoice number, quantities and one shipment. If it lists models and standards, it is the PCoC; if it lists cartons, it is the SCoC.
Shipment certificates already issued stay with their shipments. What stops is the ability to issue new ones — so anything not yet certified for shipment is blocked until the product certificate is renewed.
In current practice, yes — "SASO CoC" is an old phrase from the programmes before SABER, and today it usually refers to whichever SABER certificate the speaker means. Because it is unclear between the product and shipment levels, it is worth asking rather than assuming.
No. It is used by its shipment and there is nothing to renew. The PCoC is the certificate with an expiry date, and keeping it valid is what allows shipment certificates to keep being issued.
Forward the request and your HS code. We tell you which certificate it means, whether the one behind it already exists, and what has to happen before your next shipment moves.