Saudi Arabia’s ZATCA rolls out a blueprint for bonded zones, warehouses with five license types

KSA unveils fresh rules to boost logistics hub ambitions: Saudi Arabia’s Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) has rolled out new regulations (pdf) for all bonded zones in a bid to facilitate the movement of goods and accelerate the growth of the logistics industry, according to a ZATCA press release released last week.

This is part of the government’s push to position the kingdom as a global logistics hub. The move aims to raise the efficiency of the logistics industry by facilitating the clearance, storage and movement of goods in and out of the Kingdom. It also allows foreign traders who have commercial registration in their countries to carry out their operations without having to acquire local commercial registration documents.

BACKGROUND- The regulations were put up for public consultation last September and you can find the results of the survey here (pdf).

The regulations outline four types of licenses for the operation and management of bonded zones:

• The storage and handling of goods, along with value-added operations are permitted under the generic bonded zone license;
• Goods and operations that fall under industries including ecommerce, maintenance, mixing and combination, simple assembly operations are permitted under the specialized bonded zone license;
• The storage of liquid petroleum and petrochemical derivatives and bulk products is permitted under the bonded tank zone license;
• Temporary bonded zone licenses are given for a maximum period of six months with an option for renewal or turning the zone into the permanent type.

Uhm, Enterprise, what are bonded zones? This is a system that allows importers and exporters to store imported goods in designated zones and warehouses without immediate payment of customs or taxes until the goods are moved into the local market or re-exported.

Expiration + renewal: All of the licenses — except the temporary type — are granted for a period of 10 years and can be renewed for an additional 10-year period provided the operator files at least 90 days ahead of the expiration date.