Exporting goods is an important part of a lot of businesses. People export and import plenty of things. From food, cosmetics, clothing, electronic devices, and anything else you can think of. Plenty of the things you use every day were imported from somewhere. And the US is a huge exporter. There are plenty of things being made in the United States and shipped all over the world. One of the countries where people from the states are shipping to is Saudi Arabia. This is because a lot of people from the US are expanding their businesses to Saudi Arabia and for plenty of these businesses this means exporting from the US to Saudi Arabia.
If you will also be expanding your business and exporting from the US to Saudi Arabia, there are certain things you need to know and be aware of so you don’t get yourself in trouble or your business in trouble. But knowing about the whole process and all the details regarding the whole process is important even if it couldn’t get you in trouble. And here is where you can read most of the things that you need to know if planning on exporting from the US to Saudi Arabia.
Exporting is a complex process.
Goods you aren’t allowed to export from the USA to Saudi Arabia
There are certain things that you aren’t allowed to export from the United States to Saudi Arabia. And we decided to tell you about these first because if your business is related to exporting any of these, reading this whole guide just doesn’t make sense at all as you won’t be able to export to Saudi Arabia.
Here is a list of the goods you aren’t allowed to export to Saudi Arabia not just from the US but from anywhere in the world:
- Alcohol
- Narcotics
- Pork and pork products
- Pornographic materials
- Any sort of weapons
- Used clothing
- Sculptures
- Distillery equipment.
These were the items that are absolutely forbidden. But the list has a couple of more things except that these are restricted items. You, in fact, can import these goods but the process is very long and complicated. You would need to have special approval from the government which isn’t easy to obtain. This is the list of restricted items:
- agricultural seeds
- hazardous materials
- wireless equipment
- live animals
- archeological artifacts
- religious books and audio materials
- the perfume that includes alcohol
- natural asphalt
- radio controlled airplanes.
Importing such items can result in legal problems with the Saudi Arabian authorities which is why knowing all this is very important.
Documentation needed for exporting to Saudi Arabia
When it comes to which documentation is needed in order to export from the US to Saudi Arabia, most of it is just regular documentation you would need to have when exporting to any country. If you still aren’t familiar with which are the documents that you need to obtain, we are here to help.
A lot of paperwork is needed in order to export to Saudi Arabia.
These are the must-have documents when exporting from the US to Saudi Arabia:
- Commercial invoice in three copies
- Insurance documents
- An irremovable label that shows the country origin
- Original certificate of origin – this document needs to be legalized by the exporting country’s chamber of commerce
- Bill of lading
- Packing list
- Arabic translation of the radiation certificate (only in cases where applicable)
- SASO or Clean Report of Findings – this document needs to be produced by an accredited inspection company from the country of origin.
Now, here are the documents that you need when shipping to Saudi Arabia besides all of the above:
- Certificate of conformity – for some goods and products
- The validity of food and the food ingredients – this is if importing food. This document needs to be written in Arabic.
- Medical preparations that are herbal in nature need to be registered at the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health.
Transporting the shipment
Once you are sure that you are able to export to Saudi Arabia, it is time to get to work. You won’t be doing the transport yourself. This is a long way to go and it isn’t even possible to do this. You will need professionals to help you. And who better to call than the best exporters and importers in Saudi Arabia which would definitely be Four Winds Saudi Arabia.
Let professionals handle the shipping.
This is an amazing company that deals with transferring your goods as freight from any part of the world to Saudi Arabia or from Saudi Arabia to anywhere. There are plenty of companies out there to hire but you need to make sure that the one you do hire is professional and has plenty of experience with shipping.
How to transport?
Your next question might be this one and it is why we want to discuss air vs. sea freight. Shipping via land in this case isn’t possible as it is intercontinental exporting we are talking about. Now you are left to choose between air and sea freight. Both have their pros and cons. But which one will make the trade easier?
Airfreight is a much faster way to get your goods from one part of the world to another. But it is also a more expensive way. Especially if shipping bigger shipments. The heavier your shipment is, the more it is going to cost. This goes for sea freight as well but the starting price is much lower. But the disadvantage is that shipping via sea can last a long time. You also have to consider the fact that air freight is much safer than sea freight. And this is only because there is less time for your shipment to get damaged somewhere along the way.
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