A valid product certificate
For regulated goods, everything else is irrelevant without it. Check the expiry date against the estimated arrival, not against today.
Shipment Certificate Requirements
Documents Required for SABER Shipment Certificate
A shipment certificate is not checked the way a product certificate is. There is no testing and no technical review — only matching documents. The invoice, the packing list, the certified model list and the transport documents are compared, and anywhere they disagree is where your shipment stops.
Send before the container closes:
- Final invoice
- Packing list
- Certified model list
The Short Version
6 Requirements for Shipment Certificate
Everything on the checklist below supports one of these. The first two are worth confirming before freight is booked, not after.
Every model on the certified list
Each line on the packing list has to appear on the product certificate. One model that is not listed stops the certificate for the whole shipment.
A final commercial invoice
Not a proforma and not a draft. The invoice the certificate is checked against is the invoice that will be shown at clearance.
A packing list that agrees with it
Quantities, model numbers and package counts matching the invoice line for line. This pair is where most queries start.
The importer’s account and CR
The request is made under the Saudi importer’s company registration (CR). An agent can submit it, but only with permission to use that account.
The same HS code throughout
The code on the invoice, on the certificate and on the customs form should be one code. Differences put the original assessment in question.
Documents
The full checklist
Grouped as the request is put together. Not every line applies to every shipment — the conformity set changes completely for goods that are not regulated.
Commercial set
- Final commercial invoice, with model numbers as approved
- Packing list with quantities, package counts and gross and net weights
- Proforma invoice or purchase order, where the buyer requires it on file
- Confirmed Saudi HS code for every line on the invoice
- Incoterm, currency and total value consistent across all documents
Transport set
- Bill of lading or air waybill, once issued
- Ship or flight details and the estimated arrival date
- Container numbers for full-container shipments
- Port of loading and Saudi port of discharge
- Freight forwarder and customs broker details for the clearance
Conformity set
- The valid product certificate number the shipment is issued against
- The certified model list, to check the packing list against
- Report from the check before shipping, where the route requires one
- Self-declaration from the importer, for goods that are not regulated
- Any update reference, where a model was added since issue
Origin and marking
- Certificate of origin, or a country of origin declaration
- Origin statement on the product and retail packaging
- Arabic labelling as approved, applied to the goods actually loaded
- Energy label applied to regulated appliances in the shipment
- Shipping marks that tie the cartons to the packing list
Matching Documents
What has to match
This is the whole check. Six comparisons, each of which takes minutes before sending and days after a query.
Model numbers, character for character
The factory’s internal code and the approved model number must be the same string. A suffix added for a customer version is a different model as far as the check is concerned.
Quantities, exactly
Invoice quantity, packing list quantity and the quantity on the certificate are compared. A short-shipped pallet after documents are fixed means a reissue.
Values and currency
One value, one currency, one incoterm across the set. Changes agreed verbally with the buyer and shown on only one document create an immediate query.
Origin, stated the same way
The country on the certificate of origin, on the invoice, on the product and on the certificate should agree. Assembly in a second country is a declaration, not something to leave out.
Parties, named the same way
Exporter, consignee and notify party spelled identically throughout, with the importer named exactly as their company registration (CR) reads.
HS codes that match the certificate
The code on the invoice should be the code the product certificate was issued under. A different code at clearance reopens the question of which rule applied.
Goods Not Regulated
No certificate to reference, same paperwork
Where the HS code falls under no Saudi rule, no product certificate exists and there is nothing for the shipment certificate to be issued against. The shipment requirement does not disappear with it — a shipment certificate is still needed, applied for by the Saudi importer on a self-declaration basis.
What changes is the conformity set. What does not change is the commercial set, the origin evidence, or the matching between them.
- Written confirmation that the HS code falls under no Saudi rule
- A self-declaration made by the Saudi importer on their SABER account
- The full commercial set — invoice, packing list and transport documents
- Certificate of origin and origin marking on the goods
- Arabic labelling where general consumer rules still apply
- Re-checking the HS code from time to time, as regulated scope does change
Avoid These
Why requests come back
Six reasons, in the order we see them. Every one is visible on the packing list before the container is sealed.
A model not on the certificate
The most common single cause. The certificate cannot be issued for the shipment as described, and the goods are usually already loaded.
Invoice and packing list do not match
Different quantities or different descriptions between two documents that describe the same cartons. Every mismatch is a round trip.
Product certificate expiring before arrival
Valid when loading, expired at the berth. Nothing can be issued against it, and storage fees run while the product certificate is rebuilt.
Goods labelled differently from the documents
Artwork updated at the factory after approval. What was approved and what is in the container are no longer the same product.
A different HS code on the customs form
The broker uses a different code at clearance than the one on the certificate. The shipment is held while the difference is explained.
Sent under the wrong registration
An agent making the request on their own account rather than the importer’s. The certificate issues, attached to a company that is not the consignee.
Keep Going
Related pages
The certificate this set feeds, the import file it joins at the border, and the check that catches an unlisted model in time.
FAQs
Document questions
The shipment set. Timing and the certificate itself are answered on the shipment certificate page.
What documents are required for a Saudi shipment certificate?
The final commercial invoice, the packing list, transport documents once issued, the certificate of origin, and the number of the valid product certificate the shipment is issued against. Where the route requires it, a report from the check before shipping is added. For goods that are not regulated, a self-declaration by the Saudi importer replaces the product certificate number.
Can I use a proforma invoice?
No. A proforma is enough to plan and to quote, but the shipment certificate is checked against the final commercial invoice — the same one that will be shown at clearance. Issuing the certificate against a proforma and then revising it means reissuing the certificate.
What has to match between the documents?
Model numbers, quantities, package counts, values, currency, incoterm, origin, HS codes and the names of all parties. The check compares them line for line — a difference on any of these between the invoice, the packing list and the certified model list creates a query.
Do I need a bill of lading before getting the certificate?
Not always to begin the request, but the transport details are needed to complete the file, and the certificate should exist before arrival. In practice the request is started once the invoice and packing list are final and the transport document follows within the same window.
Is a certificate of origin required?
It is part of the standard import file, and origin has to be stated the same way across the commercial documents, the product marking and the conformity file. Where a preferred origin is being claimed for duty purposes, the rules are stricter and the document is not optional.
What if a model on the packing list is not on the product certificate?
The shipment certificate cannot cover it. Either the product certificate is updated to add the model — which takes evidence and a review — or that line is removed from the shipment. Finding this before the container closes is the whole reason for checking the packing list against the certified list.
Do products that are not regulated need documents too?
Yes. The commercial set, transport documents and origin evidence are still needed, and the Saudi importer makes a self-declaration in place of a product certificate number. What disappears is the conformity evidence, not the paperwork.
Is a check before shipping needed for every shipment?
No — only where the route set by the Saudi rule calls for one. Where it applies, it happens at the point of loading and verifies marking, packing and quantities against the documents before the certificate is issued.
What happens if quantities change after the documents are issued?
The matching fails and the certificate is reissued against corrected documents. This is normal while the goods are still at the factory and expensive once they are at sea, which is why quantities are fixed before the request rather than after.
Who checks all of this — the certification body or customs?
Both, at different points. The matching happens when the shipment certificate is requested. Customs then reads the certificate online at clearance against the form the broker files, which is why the HS code and the values on that form have to agree with what was approved.
Check it before the container is sealed
Send the draft invoice, the packing list and your certificate number. We check every line against the certified model list and tell you what will not pass — while the goods are still on the factory floor.