Weekly
Friday and Saturday
The working week runs Sunday to Thursday. A Thursday arrival typically means the file is not looked at until Sunday, and container storage runs through the weekend.
Shipping from China to Saudi Arabia
What it actually costs, what customs actually asks for, and where shipments actually get held. Written for buyers sourcing from Chinese platforms and Chinese factories, delivering into the Kingdom. Not a regional overview — this is the Saudi lane.
15%VAT on CIF + duty
5%Standard duty rate
SAR 500ZATCA fee cap
6–12Days by air, door to door
28–35Days by sea LCL
01The lane
Three ports, two modes, one thing that decides everything
Saudi Arabia is not one destination. Goods enter through Jeddah on the Red Sea, Dammam on the Gulf, or Riyadh by air and inland dry port — and the choice changes your transit time, your clearance agent, and sometimes your duty treatment. What does not change is this: the paperwork is checked before the goods are, and it is checked against the HS code.
| Route | Entry point | Transit from Guangzhou | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air, consolidated | RUH · JED · DMM | 6–12 days door to door | Samples, electronics, apparel restocks, anything with a launch date |
| Sea LCL | Jeddah Islamic Port | 28–35 days + 4–8 days clearance | Furniture, homeware, fixtures, orders above 3 CBM |
| Sea LCL | King Abdulaziz Port, Dammam | 30–38 days + 4–8 days clearance | Eastern Province and Riyadh-bound cargo via rail |
| Sea FCL | Jeddah / Dammam | 26–32 days + clearance | Full containers, 20ft and 40ft, single consignee |
Transit figures are measured from pickup at the Chinese supplier to delivery at the Saudi address, assuming documents are complete at the time of departure. A missing SABER certificate adds 5–14 days regardless of the mode — see section 04.
02What customs charges
Three numbers make up the entire tax bill
Every quote you receive for Saudi Arabia should be reducible to these three. If a supplier or forwarder cannot name them separately, the number they gave you is an estimate dressed as a price.
Value added tax
15%
Charged on the CIF value plus the duty — not on the goods value alone. This is where most landed-cost estimates go wrong by 30–40%.
Customs duty
5%
The GCC common tariff rate for most finished consumer goods. Textiles and apparel sit higher; books and medical devices sit at zero. The HS code decides, not the invoice description.
ZATCA service fee
0.15% of CIF
A customs service charge, not a tax, capped at SAR 500 per declaration. On high-value shipments it stops scaling; on small ones it is a few riyals.
How the bill is actually computed
// step 1 — dutiable value
CIF = goods + international freight + insurance
// step 2 — duty, then VAT on the duty-inclusive value
duty = CIF × duty rate
VAT = (CIF + duty) × 15%
zatca = min(CIF × 0.15%, SAR 500)
// step 3 — landed cost, before our fee
landed = CIF + duty + VAT + zatca
The order matters. VAT is applied after duty, so the two compound. A 5% duty on a SAR 10,000 consignment does not add 5% — it adds 5%, and then 15% on top of that larger base. Our sourcing fee is charged on the goods value only and is not part of the customs base.
03Duty by category
What your category is likely to pay
Indicative bands for the categories we move most often into the Kingdom. The binding figure comes from the 12-digit HS code on the declaration — the table below tells you whether to budget 5% or 25%, not what the final invoice will say.
| Category | Duty | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Books, printed matter | 0% | Content review still applies; some titles are held for inspection |
| Medical devices | 0–5% | Requires SFDA registration before shipment, not after arrival |
| Consumer electronics | 5% | Low duty, but radios and cellular modules need CST type approval |
| Industrial machinery & parts | 5% | Spare-part declarations must match the parent machine's code |
| Home appliances, kitchenware | 5–15% | Often needs SABER and, for gas appliances, an additional safety certificate |
| Furniture & fixtures | 5–15% | Bulky; sea LCL almost always beats air on cost per CBM |
| Apparel & textiles | 15–25% | The highest band most small importers hit. Fibre composition on the label must match the declaration |
| Footwear & leather goods | 15–25% | Branded goods need the authorisation chain — see section 06 |
| Cosmetics & personal care | 5–20% | SFDA product notification is mandatory; unregistered cosmetics are refused outright |
| Foodstuffs | 5–25% | SFDA + Arabic labelling + shelf-life minimums; we do not handle this category |
| Tobacco & vaping products | 100% | Where a compliant route exists at all; every case goes through separate review — see section 06 |
Rates reflect the GCC unified customs tariff as currently applied at Saudi entry points. Where a range is shown, the spread comes from sub-heading differences inside the category — a cotton shirt and a polyester shirt are not always the same line. Always confirm against your actual HS code before committing to a retail price.
04SABER · product conformity
Two certificates, in a fixed order
SABER is the platform. It is not a certificate in itself, and "we have SABER" means nothing without saying which of the two. This is the single most common reason a shipment sits at Jeddah for two weeks while the buyer believes everything is in order.
Step 1 · Product
PCoC — Product Certificate of Conformity
Registered against a product or product family, issued by an approved conformity assessment body. It proves the product itself meets the applicable Saudi technical regulation.
You obtain this once per product, before the first shipment. It is not issued per order and cannot be created at the port.
Step 2 · Shipment
SCoC — Shipment Certificate of Conformity
Generated on SABER for each individual consignment, referencing the existing PCoC. It is the document the customs broker attaches to the declaration.
No PCoC, no SCoC — there is no workaround, and no broker can issue one on your behalf without it.
What happens when the certificate is missing
The container is not rejected — it is held. Storage accrues at the port against the consignee, typically from day three, and the meter runs whether or not anyone is working on the file. A held shipment also blocks the SCoC application for every later shipment of the same product, because the PCoC record is what the platform checks against.
2026 change to be aware of: the product-code mapping used to link goods to technical regulations was revised. Certificates raised against the older mapping may require re-registration even where the product itself has not changed. If your PCoC predates this revision, verify it before booking freight — re-registration is not instant.
05Four authorities
Four different bodies can stop the same shipment
SABER is only one gate. Depending on what is in the box, a second and third authority has an independent right to refuse it — and each keeps its own register, so clearing one tells you nothing about the others.
SASO
SASO / SABER — product conformity
Governs whether the product may be sold in the Kingdom at all. Electrical safety, toy safety, textiles labelling, building materials. Register first, ship second.
CST
CST — telecom & wireless (formerly CITC)
Any device that transmits or receives — phones, routers, smart watches, Bluetooth speakers, drones. Approval is per model, not per brand. A colour variant with a different model number needs its own file.
SFDA
SFDA — food, cosmetics, medical, supplements
Separate registration from SASO, separate platform, separate timeline. Cosmetics require product notification; medical devices require establishment and product registration. No SFDA file, no entry.
ZATCA
ZATCA / FASAH — the declaration itself
Files the customs entry and collects duty, VAT and the service fee. The declaration must be lodged at least 48 hours before arrival; a late filing invites inspection by default rather than by exception.
The practical consequence: a single wireless earbud order can require a SASO PCoC, a CST type approval and a ZATCA declaration, filed by three parties, before it is allowed to leave the airport. This is why the first shipment of a new SKU takes longer than the tenth — and why the lead time you should plan against is the certification lead time, not the freight lead time.
06On this lane specifically
Sensitive goods go through a separate review
The categories below do not get a yes or a no from a price list. Each one is assessed individually before a purchase is made — against Saudi import regulations, the certification route that exists for it, and our own ability to carry it. The outcome is a written decision, not a guess.
01
Submit the case
Product link or specification, quantity, and the Saudi city it is going to. No purchase yet.
02
Compliance check
We verify against SASO, CST and SFDA requirements, and confirm whether a certification route exists for the item at all.
03
Decision in writing
Carryable, carryable with conditions, or not carryable — with the reason, before any money moves.
| Category | Our position | What the review looks at |
|---|---|---|
| Replica & alternative goods | Review required | We do not assist with counterfeit or trademark-infringing goods. Unbranded alternatives and look-alike designs sold on their own merits may be carried; each case is checked before purchase. |
| Branded goods without an authorisation chain | Review required | A genuine item without an invoice trail from an authorised distributor is treated as unproven at the border, whatever its actual origin. The review asks whether the chain can be established on paper. |
| E-cigarettes, vapes, heated tobacco | Review required | Import conditions for this category change frequently and enforcement is strict. Each case is assessed against the rules in force at the time — if there is no compliant route, we say so before you buy. |
| Drones and radio transmitters | Review required | Requires CST approval plus, for many models, a security clearance that is not issued to individuals. The review establishes which approvals your specific model needs and who can obtain them. |
| Satellite phones & encrypted comms | Review required | Heavily restricted regardless of certificate. The review is usually short and the answer is usually no — but it is given in writing, not implied. |
| Religious printed material | Review required | Subject to content review; some titles are held. We assess whether the material can realistically clear before shipping it. |
| Alcohol, pork products | Not carried — no review changes this | Prohibited by Saudi law, including gift sets and food hampers containing either. There is no certification route, so these do not enter the review process. |
How to start a review: send the product link through the contact page with the note "sensitive review". Reviews of single consumer items are typically answered within one working day; categories requiring a regulator enquiry take longer, and we will tell you which regulator and why.
07Worked example
One real order, costed line by line
A consolidated air shipment: 42 kg of consumer electronics and accessories, sourced from three sellers, delivered to a Riyadh address. Figures in SAR at the pegged rate of 3.75 to the US dollar.
Consolidated air · Guangzhou → Riyadh
42 kg · 0.24 CBM · 3 sellers · HS 8518 / 8504
| Goods value, as paid to sellersUSD 1,200 · sourcing fee charged separately at 8% | SAR 4,500.00 |
| International air freight, chargeable weight42 kg · 0.24 cbm — actual weight governs, not volumetric | SAR 672.00 |
| Insurancedeclared value cover | SAR 56.25 |
| CIF — the dutiable value | SAR 5,228.25 |
| Customs duty5% on CIF · consumer electronics band | SAR 261.41 |
| VAT15% on (CIF + duty) = SAR 5,489.66 | SAR 823.45 |
| ZATCA service fee0.15% of CIF, well under the SAR 500 cap | SAR 7.84 |
| Total taxes and duties | SAR 1,092.70 |
| Landed cost, before our fee | SAR 6,320.95 |
| Delivered, all-inincluding 8% sourcing fee of SAR 360.00 | SAR 6,680.95 |
Duty and VAT are advanced by us and settled in the quote, so the consignee is not asked for money at the door.
Actual figures vary with the HS code confirmed at declaration and the freight rate on the day of booking.
This example is for illustration; your quote will be built the same way, line by line.
The line most quotes hide
Notice that the taxes on this shipment — SAR 1,093 — exceed the freight, SAR 672. Buyers usually compare forwarders on freight and discover the difference later, when the duty is calculated on a CIF value that includes a freight charge they had not budgeted for. Ask for the CIF breakdown, not the door price.
08Timing
The calendar moves your delivery date more than the freight does
Saudi customs and ports do not work seven days a week, and the two Eid periods stop them almost completely. A shipment that lands the day before a holiday is not a shipment that clears the day before a holiday.
Variable · lunar
Eid al-Fitr
Three to five days of official closure, with reduced staffing for a week either side. Government platforms and inspections are effectively paused. Budget 10 extra days.
Variable · lunar
Eid al-Adha
Same closure pattern, and it coincides with peak livestock and food imports, so port congestion is worse than the calendar alone suggests.
1 month annually
Ramadan
Not closed, but working hours shorten and throughput drops. Clearance that takes four days in March takes six in Ramadan.
23 September
National Day
Official holiday plus the surrounding bridge days. Ports operate on skeleton crews.
22 February
Founding Day
Newer public holiday, same practical effect on government offices and customs counters.
Practical rule
If your delivery date is fixed — a store opening, a season, a promotion — work backwards through the holiday calendar first and pick the freight mode second. Booking an earlier flight into a closed port costs more and delivers later. We will flag the collision when we quote, rather than let you discover it on the tracking page.
09Delivery
To the door, in a country the size of Western Europe
Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam are straightforward. Outside the three main centres, address quality becomes the binding constraint: many Saudi delivery addresses are a landmark and a phone number rather than a street number, and a courier who cannot reach you will hold the parcel for a few days and then return it.
| Destination | Delivery basis | Typical add-on |
|---|---|---|
| Riyadh · Jeddah · Dammam · Khobar | Door delivery, local Gulf partners selected per destination | Included |
| Makkah · Madinah · Taif | Door delivery, one to two days beyond the main centres | Included |
| Secondary cities | Door delivery where coverage exists, otherwise collection point | Quoted per address |
| Remote and industrial sites | Nearest collection point; we will tell you before you order | Quoted per address |
What we need from you at the point of order: consignee name exactly as on the national ID or Iqama, a mobile number that will be answered, the city, and a landmark or building name. An incomplete address is the second most common cause of a returned parcel, after an unpaid duty bill.
10Questions we get asked
Saudi Arabia, answered plainly
Do I pay duty on small personal orders?
Personal shipments with a value at or below SAR 1,000 are exempt from customs duty. They are not exempt from VAT — the 15% still applies, and it is charged on the value plus freight. Above SAR 1,000, both duty and VAT apply. Splitting one order into several to stay under the threshold is visible to customs on the consolidated manifest and is treated as a declaration issue, not a saving.
My supplier says the product already has SABER. Is that enough?
Ask which certificate. A
PCoC covers the product and lasts a year; a SCoC covers one shipment. Suppliers frequently mean "we can get a PCoC" rather than "we hold one", and a supplier's certificate is registered to their commercial registration — it does not automatically transfer to your import file. Send us the certificate number and we will check it against the shipment before you pay.Can you declare a lower value to reduce the tax?
No. The declared value is checked against the payment record, the marketplace order and the prevailing market price for the HS code. An under-declaration that is caught results in a fine, a revaluation and a flag on the importer's file that affects every future shipment. The saving is never worth the exposure, and we will decline the instruction.
How long does the first order of a new product take?
Longer than the tenth, and the difference is certification, not freight. If a PCoC has to be obtained for a new product family, budget two to four weeks before the goods can even be booked, plus the 6–12 day air transit. Products already certified by another importer can sometimes reuse the technical file, which shortens this considerably — worth asking before you assume the worst.
What if customs holds the shipment?
We tell you the reason in writing, in the authority's own wording, and what it will take to release it. Most holds are a missing certificate or a code mismatch and clear within a week. Storage is charged by the port against the consignee from around day three, so speed matters — this is the one situation where we will ask you for a decision the same day rather than the next.
Can you buy from Taobao, 1688 or Tmall for me?
Yes — that is the core of what we do. Send the product link; we confirm price, seller rating and whether the item can clear Saudi entry. If it cannot, you hear it from us before you pay, not after the parcel arrives at a customs warehouse. Where a seller will not ship domestically, we buy on your behalf and consolidate in Guangzhou.
Do you consolidate orders from different sellers?
Yes, and it is usually the largest single saving on a multi-seller order. Parcels are received at our Guangzhou warehouse, checked, and held for up to 30 days free while the rest arrive. One consolidated shipment pays one set of customs charges instead of five. Full detail on the consolidation page.
Is the price you quote the price I pay?
The quote states duty and VAT as separate lines with the calculation shown, and we advance both. What can still move is the freight rate if the booking date changes, and the duty if the HS code is reclassified at declaration. Both are flagged in the quote rather than absorbed silently. There is no collection on delivery.
Send us the product link. We will tell you what it costs to land in Riyadh.
Price, duty, VAT and delivery in one reply — usually within one working day, and always with the calculation shown. If the item cannot enter the Kingdom, you will hear that first.