Saudi SASO 3114:2026 for ICT Products: What Changes on 1 November 2026 and How China Exporters Should Prepare

Saudi Arabia has never been an easy market for consumer electronics, but from 1 November 2026 it becomes materially stricter. SASO 3114:2026 introduces a dedicated technical regulation for ICT products, and certificates of conformity issued under the new regulation are required for affected goods. For a Chinese exporter shipping phones, tablets, routers, customer premises equipment, ONT units or gateways to Saudi Arabia, this is the single most important compliance change of the year.

This guide explains what the regulation covers, how the SABER platform issues product and shipment certificates, what happens to existing GEN-002 certificates, what the new labelling rule from 1 October 2026 requires, and what to do in the next thirty days if you have shipments in production.

What SASO 3114:2026 Covers

SASO 3114:2026 is a technical regulation for information and communication technology equipment. In practical terms, the product families most affected are:

• Mobile devices — smartphones, tablets, smart watches with cellular connectivity.
• Network equipment — routers, switches, access points, modems, customer premises equipment (CPE).
• Fibre terminal equipment — ONT and ONU units supplied by telecom operators.
• Gateways and IoT hubs — devices that bridge local networks to wide-area networks.
• Associated power supplies and chargers supplied as part of the product package.

The regulation sits alongside, not instead of, the existing electrical safety, EMC and radio requirements. A product that was previously covered by a general electrical safety certificate now needs a certificate issued under the ICT regulation, and the technical file has to demonstrate conformity against the new standard rather than the old one.

The Transition: GEN-002 and 31 March 2027

Products previously certified under the general regulation — commonly referred to as GEN-002 — do not become illegal overnight. Certificates already issued remain valid until 31 March 2027. After that date, only certificates issued under SASO 3114:2026 are accepted for the affected product families.

The trap is timing. Certification under a new technical regulation involves testing, a technical file review and, for radio products, additional evidence. A process that takes six to ten weeks in a quiet period takes longer in the run-up to a deadline, because every exporter in the category is filing at the same time.

How SABER Works: Product Certificate and Shipment Certificate

Saudi conformity is administered through the SABER platform, and it issues two different documents that are frequently confused.

The shipment certificate validity has been extended from 60 to 90 days, which gives more room for a container that is delayed in transit or held at the port. It does not remove the need to match the shipment exactly: the invoice, the quantities, the model numbers and the PC reference must all be consistent.

The Labelling Rule From 1 October 2026

Separately from the ICT regulation, from 1 October 2026 the importer's name and commercial registration (CR) number must appear on the label for products in ten technical regulation categories. This is a labelling change, not a certification change, and it catches exporters who updated their certificate but not their packaging.

In practice, this means the artwork has to be revised before production, because a label applied at the factory cannot be corrected at the Saudi border. If you use a contract manufacturer, confirm in writing that the artwork revision is in the production file and that the first production run carries it.

Common Mistakes That Stop a Shipment

1. Certifying the wrong model number. A PC issued for one SKU variant does not cover a variant with a different radio module or a different power rating.
2. Using a shipment certificate that does not match the invoice. Quantity, model and consignee must line up exactly.
3. Leaving the technical file in Chinese. The file, the manual and the label need Arabic or bilingual content as required by the regulation.
4. Assuming a CB report is enough. A CB report supports the file; it does not replace the Saudi certificate.
5. Forgetting the charger. A power supply shipped in the box is part of the product and needs to be covered.
6. Waiting for the old certificate to expire. The deadline is fixed; the queue is not.

What It Costs and How Long It Takes

For a brand shipping several variants, the model-family strategy matters: grouping variants under one certificate reduces cost, but only if the radio module, the power supply and the safety construction are genuinely the same. Attempting to group dissimilar products is the fastest way to have a certificate withdrawn.

A Thirty-Day Action Plan

1. Days 1–3. List every SKU you ship to Saudi Arabia and mark which ones fall under the ICT regulation.
2. Days 4–7. Check the status of each existing certificate: number, scope, expiry date and whether it is GEN-002 or already under the new regulation.
3. Days 8–14. Contact an approved conformity body and request a written scope assessment and a quotation for the affected models. Ask specifically whether your existing test reports can be reused.
4. Days 15–21. Start the technical file update: Arabic manual, label artwork with importer name and CR number, and the radio test evidence.
5. Days 22–30. Book production and shipment dates against the certification timeline, and inform your Saudi importer of the certificate numbers you expect to use.

How This Fits Into the Wider Shipping Plan

Certification is a shipping constraint, not a paperwork afterthought. A container that arrives in Jeddah or Dammam without a valid shipment certificate cannot be cleared, and storage charges at Saudi ports accumulate quickly. The practical sequence is:

• Certificate scope confirmed before the purchase order is released to the factory.
• Shipment certificate applied for once the invoice is issued, not after the vessel sails.
• Documents checked against the shipment certificate before the container is sealed.
• Importer briefed on the certificate numbers and the expected arrival date.

Saudi Arabia remains one of the most attractive Middle East markets for Chinese electronics, and the new regulation does not change that. It does change the preparation required. Exporters who start now will have certificates in place before the deadline; exporters who wait will be competing for testing lab capacity in February and March 2027.

A Worked Timeline for a Smartphone Shipment

Abstract rules are hard to plan against. Here is what the sequence looks like for a 5,000-unit smartphone shipment leaving Shenzhen in January 2027 and arriving in Jeddah in February.

The critical path is the testing and the product certificate, not the shipping. Exporters who start in January for a February sailing will fail, because the testing alone takes four to five weeks and the certificate another two to three.

Two accelerators are worth knowing. First, if the model is a variant of an already-certified product with the same radio module and power supply, the additional testing can be limited to a delta assessment. Second, if the Arabic manual and label artwork are prepared in parallel with testing rather than after it, two to three weeks disappear from the critical path.

The most common schedule failure is treating certification as something that happens after the goods are ready. In this category it has to happen before production, because the label carries the importer's name and CR number and cannot be applied retrospectively.