Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Saudi Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) announced the development of the “Saudi Authorized Economic Operator Program” in coordination with 14 government agencies.

ZATCA and its partners offer many administrative, procedural and financial advantages for importers and exporters in 3 categories, while a fourth category is

dedicated to providers of logistics services and solutions, including customs brokers, shipping agents and others.

The program aims to further empower the logistics sector in Saudi Arabia, facilitate trade, ease procedures for importers and exporters, enhance their competitiveness, increase the efficiency of supply chains, and simplify and accelerate procedures while ensuring the continuation of business operations smoothly and with high flexibility, in addition to facilitating access to global markets.

The participating entities in the program are the Ministries of Energy, Interior, Commerce, Environment, Water and Agriculture, Industry and Mineral Resources, Investment, Human Resources and Social Development, Transport and Logistics, and Health, the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization, the Communications, Space and Technology Commission, General Authority of Civil Aviation, Saudi ports Authority, and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority.

More than 550 commercial establishments have joined the program since its launch in 2018.

The Saudi Authorized Economic Operator Program is a global program approved in 80 countries around the world, through which countries provide benefits to commercial establishments, in accordance with the World Customs Organization’s International Trade Security and Facilitation Standards Framework. Mutual recognition agreements are one of the most important means of cooperation between countries in facilitating trade and benefiting from the program’s advantages.

Importers, exporters, carriers, shipping agents and customs brokers who wish to join the program and learn about all the benefits can view the program’s benefits and conditions by visiting the program’s dedicated page, available on the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority’s website.