Agriculture & Food

"Riyadh" reported on July 7 that the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia recently announced that Saudi Arabia will implement new regulations on the import control of fruits and vegetables from January 1, 1443 (August 10, 2021). . The new regulations will determine the type and quantity of fruit and vegetable import licenses based on the needs of the local market in Saudi Arabia, optimize services and transportation procedures, and strictly enforce import license issuance requirements, aiming to support sustainable production in the country, guarantee product quality, protect plant resources, and promote fresh fruits and vegetables. Circulate and ensure food safety.

The ministry stated that the new regulations refer to the international standards of the Committee on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) and combine the GCC agricultural quarantine system with Saudi Arabia’s actual implementation measures. The CPM international standard allows countries to set requirements for their imported goods. The relevant regulations of the GCC show that “no entry is allowed except for holding an import license and a phytosanitary certificate issued by the competent authority of the exporting country.” Relevant Saudi regulations require, “I hope to import plants, plant products or materials subject to the Phytosanitary Law. Entity must obtain an import license before submitting an import application to the competent authority."

The Ministry emphasized that the new regulations require that the transportation of fruits and vegetables must comply with the GCC national agricultural quarantine regulations and the technical regulations of the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture. Once the import license expires, the imported goods will not be released. The Ministry has the right to check the quantity of imports according to each license and request the suspension of shipment when an epidemic occurs in the importing country.