Saudi industry begins issuing “certificates of origin” for national products in early January

The Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources announced that it will start issuing the “certificate of origin service” through the ministry’s website, starting from the beginning of next January.

The ministry said in a statement today, Sunday, that this is in line with the Cabinet’s decision to transfer the competence to issue certificates of origin for all national products from the Ministry of Commerce to the Ministry of Industry, stressing that it is working to complete the development and improvement of legislative and technical systems related to the service.

The ministry added that the certificate of origin includes five forms: a certificate of origin for national products of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, a certificate of origin for national products of Arab countries, and a (preferential) certificate of origin, the unified model for the Arab Gulf states when exporting to countries and economic blocs with which free trade agreements.

It also includes a certificate of origin form in Arabic and English for the rest of the countries that do not grant preferential treatment (the general form), and a certificate of origin form (A) for the Generalized System of Preferences.

The certificate of origin comes as a document stating that the goods exported abroad are of national origin or have acquired the status of national origin. The certificate of origin also targets industrial establishments and owners of commercial records from companies and institutions, in addition to commercial centers and workshops, and individual farmers, fishermen and others.

It is noteworthy that the industrial sector leads other sectors in issuing certificates of origin, as the number of certificates of origin issued reached 1.716 million certificates, or 83.2%, the commercial sector, with 342,718 thousand certificates, or 16.6%, then the individual sector, with 3,337 certificates, or 0.2%.