Exporting Cosmetics to Saudi Arabia: SFDA Ghad Listing, CoC and Labels

Cosmetic, drug or health product: check SFDA's classification first

The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) regulates cosmetics, drugs, medical devices and other health products, so the first question is which category your product is in. SFDA's clearance conditions define a cosmetic product as any product intended for the external parts of the human body (skin, hair, nails, lips, external genital organs), the teeth or the mucous membranes of the mouth, used to clean, perfume, protect, keep in good condition, change or improve the appearance, or change or improve body odour.

SFDA's Products Classification Guidance (version 8.0, 20 November 2024) applies four tests. Site of application and dosage form: products taken by mouth or put into the eyes, nose, ears or rectum are not cosmetics. Ingredients: a cosmetic should not contain medicinal or therapeutic substances. Function and claims: medical or therapeutic claims take a product out of the cosmetic category. Presentation: SFDA looks at the claims, the label, the packaging, inserts, graphics and promotion together. If a product is borderline, the Saudi company can ask SFDA for a decision in the electronic Products Classification System (ePCS). The guidance sets a submission fee of SAR 1,000 and a performance target of 1 working day; the decision is valid for one year and can be appealed within 30 calendar days. SFDA updates this guidance, so check the current version on its website. Examples from version 8.0:

• Cosmetic categories include skin care, cleansers, make-up, sun protection, hair colorants and styling products, nail products, and non-medicated toothpaste and mouthwash.
• Alcohol hand sanitizers with 60-80% ethanol or 60-70% isopropanol are health products, not cosmetics.
• Insect repellents in direct contact with human skin are health products.
• Tooth whiteners with more than 6% hydrogen peroxide, or compounds releasing an equivalent amount, are medical devices.
• Claims to treat or prevent a disease (for example acne treatment or hair-loss cure) can move a product to the medicines route.

Listing in Ghad: who can list and what the exporter supplies

SFDA's clearance conditions require products for commercial use to be listed with SFDA through Ghad, its unified electronic system, before they are cleared. Listing is also called marketing notification; eCosma, SFDA's earlier cosmetics system, still appears on some older SFDA pages and FAQs. SFDA's listing guide defines the lister as the natural or legal person that lists the product in its own name. To open a Ghad account the lister needs a Saudi commercial registration that includes one of SFDA's ISIC4 activities for cosmetics establishments, a copy of its Ministry of Investment licence if it is a foreign or mixed-capital company, and an authorization certified by the chamber of commerce for the person who submits applications. The guide has no separate authorized-representative role, so a brand without a Saudi company lists through its importer or distributor, or through a Saudi subsidiary of its own.

The lister is responsible for product safety and for the accuracy of the data. It must keep a product information file and give it to SFDA on request, report injuries, manufacturing defects and recalls, and notify SFDA of changes. Changes that keep the product's identity, such as a new pack design, size, barcode, manufacturer or ingredient concentration, are updates; a change of identity needs a new listing. The lister must apply for renewal at least 90 days before the listing expires, and the notification becomes void if it lapses. SFDA states that the notification only facilitates trade: it is not proof that SFDA has evaluated or analysed the product, and it may not be used in advertising.

SFDA defines a cosmetics warehouse as a place licensed by SFDA to store, distribute and trade cosmetic products, so check that your importer's warehouse holds an SFDA licence. The listing stays with the lister: agree in the contract who holds each listing and what happens if you change partner. For each product the lister enters the brand, product type, physical form, HS code, Arabic and English product names, sizes and barcodes, and the manufacturer, and attaches the following, which the exporter normally supplies:

• A certified copy of the authorization letter from the manufacturer or the company the goods are imported from, or a contract manufacturing agreement.
• Clear images of the label artwork of the inner and outer pack and any leaflet (PNG, PDF, JPG or JPEG), suitable for publication.
• A product photograph for publication.
• The full ingredient list with approved INCI names, concentrations and functions; a new ingredient is first reported to SFDA with its CAS number and function.
• A separate barcode for each size, colour or shade.

Technical regulations, banned substances and claims

On 24 June 2025 SFDA announced that it had adopted two updated Gulf technical regulations: SFDA.CO/GSO 1943:2024, Cosmetics - Safety requirements in cosmetics and personal care products, and SFDA.CO/GSO 2528:2024, Cosmetics - Claims regulation for cosmetics and personal care products. The main change was to move the lists of prohibited and restricted substances, preservatives, colorants and UV filters out of the regulation and onto SFDA's website, so that they can be updated more easily. SFDA asked local manufacturers and importers to bring products into line and said that failing to meet the safety and claims rules is a violation subject to penalties under the cosmetics law. The texts are available from SFDA's Mwasfah standards store (mwasfah.sfda.gov.sa).

In practice, check every ingredient on SFDA's online lists rather than on an old copy of GSO 1943: the prohibited list, the restricted list with its limits and conditions, and the positive lists of colorants, preservatives and UV filters. Because SFDA can now change the lists without revising the regulation, re-check them before each production run and each listing update. Claims on the pack, in leaflets and in advertising must meet SFDA.CO/GSO 2528:2024; SFDA's listing guide warns that written, spoken, pictorial or implied claims can take a product out of the cosmetic category. Keep the evidence for every claim in the product information file.

Arabic labels, stickers and the 2025-2026 label rules

SFDA's listing guide requires labels to meet SFDA.CO/GSO 1943 and forbids any reference on the label to the product's listing with SFDA. The US International Trade Administration (ITA) guide, last published on 11 May 2026, lists the items a cosmetic label must show: product name and trade name, manufacturer name and address, validity (expiry), function, ingredients, special warnings, production date and batch number, size or net weight, country of origin and storage instructions. It adds that SFDA may require the label in Arabic, that warnings and safety instructions on Saudi labels generally must be in Arabic or in Arabic and English, and that an origin sticker is acceptable only if it cannot be removed. The safest approach is a bilingual Arabic-English label. If you add Arabic text with a sticker, apply it before export so that the goods match the label artwork listed in Ghad.

With SFDA Circular No. 37719/2 of February 2025, reported by the ITA, manufacturers and exporters may not put phrases on labels suggesting that a product is made for or intended for a market other than Saudi Arabia, such as "For export only" or "European market edition"; such products risk being refused at customs. Check stock printed for other markets before you ship it to Saudi Arabia.

An SFDA circular, reported by the Italian Trade Agency (ICE) on 11 August 2026, bans external-use cosmetics in syringe packs from 1 January 2027. Ampoules and vials stay allowed only with warnings in Arabic and English that the product is for external use only and must not be injected, and promotion suggesting injection or skin-penetrating use is forbidden. Products that do not comply must be changed or withdrawn by 31 December 2026. Confirm the exact wording with your lister before printing.

Certificate of conformity in FASEH and SFDA's border checks

SFDA's conditions for clearing cosmetic products and raw materials (version 4.0, 17 November 2024, in Arabic) set the rules for every commercial shipment. The products must be listed in Ghad and meet SFDA.CO/GSO 1943 and SFDA's circulars. The importer sends the clearance request electronically to SFDA's central clearance through FASEH (faseh.sfda.gov.sa), SFDA's own clearance system; do not confuse it with FASAH, the customs platform of the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA). The request must include the commercial invoice, certified by a chamber of commerce in the country of shipment and showing the manufacturer's name and nationality, the invoice number and date, the product names and the batch or lot number or production date, and a certificate of conformity (CoC).

The CoC must be issued through FASEH by a conformity assessment body (CAB) approved by SFDA, and applied for before the goods are shipped: SFDA does not accept certificates issued outside the platform or issued while the goods are in transit. On 12 July 2024 SFDA announced that CoCs for shipments from the country of origin are issued through FASEH: the importer selects "Faseh Cosmetic Products", enters the products, the system assigns approved CABs, and SFDA reviews the request before the goods arrive. The exporter's part is to give the CAB the documents, test reports, samples or access to the goods it asks for.

If a listed product arrives without a CoC, SFDA takes samples and sends them to laboratories it designates; the importer pays for the analysis and inspection, and the shipment is released on the importer's undertaking not to unload it until the test results are known. Goods released through risk-based express clearance without inspection remain the importer's responsibility, and clearance records must be kept for at least 5 years. Advertising samples are limited to 10 units per item, with the importer's declaration that they are not for sale. Cosmetics follow this SFDA route, not SABER; brushes, mirrors or electric beauty devices packed with them are not cosmetics and may need SABER certificates, so check them separately (see Triplicate's SABER note).

Customs: HS chapter 33, duty, 15% VAT and documents

Most cosmetics fall in HS heading 33.03 (perfumes and toilet waters), 33.04 (beauty, make-up and skin care preparations, including sunscreens, and manicure or pedicure preparations), 33.05 (hair preparations), 33.06 (oral or dental hygiene) or 33.07 (shaving preparations, deodorants, bath preparations, depilatories and other toilet preparations). Since 1 January 2025 Saudi Arabia has applied the GCC integrated tariff at the 12-digit level; check the duty for each line in ZATCA's online tariff search. The ITA describes the GCC common external tariff as at least 5% on most goods imported from outside the GCC, charged on the CIF value; confirm the rate for your exact 12-digit code with the importer's customs broker, and use the same HS code as in the Ghad listing.

VAT has been 15% since July 2020. ZATCA's guideline on VAT for imports and exports (second edition, May 2026) says import VAT is charged on the customs value plus customs duty, any excise tax and other charges, and is paid by the importer at customs clearance unless ZATCA has approved deferral to the VAT return.

ZATCA's import instructions list a commercial invoice, a bill of lading and a certificate of origin, which ZATCA says is unnecessary when the country of origin is clearly established, and the importer must file the customs declaration in FASAH at least 48 hours before the goods arrive. SFDA's commercial-shipment list asks for a chamber-certified invoice but does not mention a certificate of origin or a certificate of free sale. Unless the importer's broker confirms that it is not needed, send a certificate of origin issued by your chamber of commerce, and keep product names, quantities and batch numbers identical on the invoice, packing list, CoC and FASAH declaration. Rules change, so confirm current requirements with SFDA and the importer's broker before each new product.