The Saudi Arabian Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) has announced the issuance of a decision by its Board of Directors regarding the Fee Rules on Customs Services, which includes specifying the fees on customs services provided by ZATCA and the conditions for fulfilling them. The decision will be implemented on 6 October 2024, which included: waiving the fees for all customs services for exports and reducing customs service fees for imports through a new mechanism for calculating import service fees, which involves a fee of 0.15% of the value of the incoming goods for customs declaration processing services.

In addition, the Fee Document on Customs Services stipulates a fee of SAR 15 for customs declaration processing services on individuals’ shipments arriving through online stores, provided that the value of these shipments does not exceed SAR 1,000.

ZATCA clarified that the customs services for exports for which the fees have been waived include: customs declaration processing service, lead seal, land port loading services, X-ray inspection, customs data exchange, and sample analysis exchange at specialised laboratories. ZATCA added that previously the customs service fees for imports included a charge of SAR 100 for each container inspected by X-ray, an additional SAR 100 for “information exchange” services, and SAR 20 for customs declaration processing services.

With the new decision, the fee shall be based on 0.15% of the value of the incoming goods, including insurance and shipping, with a maximum of SAR 500 and a minimum of SAR 15 and a special cap of SAR 130 for shipments exempt from customs duties and taxes.

ZATCA indicated that the waiver of customs service fees for exports will contribute to encouraging exporters and alleviating financial burdens, especially for SMEs, as well as enhancing the efficiency and competitiveness of Saudi exports. ZATCA also confirmed that the new mechanism for calculating import service fees aims to reduce import costs and enhance the importers’ capability to pre-calculate customs service fees for imports and set a higher limit for such fees.

The new decision also ensures the elimination of any cost increases against importers and unifies the calculation mechanism for the various land, sea and air ports, while also supporting and enhancing trade facilitation objectives.

ZATCA also announced that through the new measures, it seeks to provide customs services in accordance with the best practices, leading to realising the positive income across the logistics ecosystem and supporting its strategic objectives.

The new measures also aim to promote the confidence of importers and exporters and improve transparency. ZATCA reiterated its commitment to develop its customs services in line with its strategic objectives, by contributing to turning Saudi Arabia into a global logistics hub in line with Vision 2030.