Let me be clear about one thing first: SASO is Saudi Arabia's standards organization, and SABER is the electronic certification platform launched in 2019. In the past, for Saudi exports, everyone went through the SASO COC paper certificate process; now it has all been changed to proceed through the SABER system. Simply put, SABER is the "electronic gatekeeper" jointly set up by Saudi Customs and the standards authority—for your goods to enter Saudi Arabia, you must first obtain two certificates in the system: one is called Product Certificate (PC), and the other is called Shipment Certificate (SC). PC is at the product level and valid for one year; SC is issued once for each shipment. Without SC, Saudi Customs will stop it directly, the goods will pile up at the port, and demurrage charges will burn day after day.
So what products need to do it? The scope is broader than many people think. Electrical and electronic products, auto parts, building materials, chemicals, toys, textiles, and food-contact materials are basically all on the controlled list. Many factories think only products in the mandatory certification catalog need it, but in fact Saudi Arabia has also included quite a few "low-risk" products into SABER's self-declaration or third-party certification pathways. The key is to first check which category of technical regulations your HS code corresponds to, and do not just assume based on your own guess that "mine probably doesn't need it." I have seen a factory making LED lighting that thought it was just ordinary lighting, but when the goods reached Saudi Arabia they were required to supplement the PC certificate, and the whole shipment was stuck for three weeks.
The pitfalls most easily stepped into: the first is "ship first, supplement the certificate later." SABER's SC certificate must be applied for before shipment. If the ship has already sailed and you supplement it afterward, the timing in the system will not match, and customs will not recognize it. The second pitfall is that the product test report does not match the requirements. Saudi Arabia recognizes reports issued by ISO/IEC 17025 laboratories, and the standard version must be correct—for example, if you have an old-version IEC report, while the Saudi side has already switched to the new version adopted by SASO, the report is directly invalid. The third pitfall is the most hidden: the product description on the PC certificate is inconsistent with the actual shipment. Model, trademark, factory name—even if one letter is different, the system cannot match it when applying for SC, and you have to go through PC modification again, and two weeks are gone back and forth.
As for the cycle, roughly speaking: if product testing goes smoothly, the PC certificate generally takes two to three weeks from submission to issuance; SC is a shipment certificate, and if the documents are complete, three to five working days. But the premise is that your test report is ready and the product information is accurate. If testing needs to be redone, or the PC needs to be changed, the time will have to be extended. So my advice is just one sentence: don't wait until the order is placed before thinking of asking about certification. Pull out the product list and HS codes in advance and have someone who knows the field go through them—that is much better than panicking after the goods reach the port.