Implementing Regulations of The Agriculture Law

Without prejudice to the requirements for importing plant products set forth in the GCC Agricultural Quarantine Law and its implementing regulations, and the decisions issued by the Ministry, an importer intending to bring fresh vegetables or fruits into the Kingdom shall apply to the Ministry electronically for an importation license, in accordance with the following conditions: 1. An importer shall meet one of the following requirements: a) Be a Saudi legal person licensed to engage in said activity; or b) Be a foreign investor licensed to engage in said activity, pursuant to the Foreign Investment Law. 2. The following general requirements shall be met for license issuance: a) The following information shall be attached to the application: importer’s address, date of importation and exporting country. A class (A) importer shall attach to his application the coordinates of the warehouses and refrigerators in which he intends to unload the imported shipments of vegetables and fruits, so that the Ministry’s inspectors can inspect the same in person to ensure their safety and suitability for storage. A class (B) importer shall attach to his application certified contracts with commercial centers or distributors to deliver shipments thereto directly, and a list of the refrigerated means of transport; and 33| Implementing Regulations of the Agriculture Law b) Importer’s financial solvency. 3. A license shall be issued pursuant to the following procedures: a) The Ministry shall receive a license application upon verifying completion of the conditions set forth in clauses (1) and (2) of this Article, and shall issue the license electronically within a period not exceeding three working days from the application date. b) If the license application is rejected, the applicant shall be notified electronically within a period not exceeding three working days from the application date. c) Importation licenses shall be issued by the Ministry, and shall include the importer’s basic details and the license validity period.