common regulation Middle East

Pesticide Regulation in Saudi Arabia

Legal Basis & Its’s Authorities

The Implementing organizations of pesticide regulation in Saudi Arabia are:

The first regulations of the trade with agricultural pesticides started in 1976.

In 2004 the Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) approved ‘The regulation of agricultural pesticides in the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab Gulf States’.
In 2006 the Cabinet approved the application of this law in the Kingdom after the issuance of its Executive Regulations.

Overview

1. Natural administration, security and development and emanations control. 

2. Shield general wellbeing from naturally harming practices.  

3. Protect, develop and smooth out regular assets. 

4. To give ecological arranging in both assembling, ranger service, Architectural and different areas as a significant part for in general development arranging.  

5. To raise ecological cognizance and build up individual and social sensations of natural commitment and to advance intentional public exercises here.  

6. Ecological evaluation, revealing devices and instruments, proof assortment and natural examination.  

7. Record and report covers the environment.  

8. Planning, theme, investigation, creation and translation of ecological principles. 

9. Propose relevant natural standards for the region of capability.  

10. Guarantee that city bodies and people participate in collaboration with the included and authorizing offices with natural enactment, standards, and necessities, and perform suitable systems. 

Who Can Register and The Registration Process

A Saudi Food and Drug Authority e-administration that empowers recipients to access and issue a connected authentication on general wellbeing pesticides.  

• Login and switch on record.  

• Access the information of the association.  

• Insert information for the things.  

• Saudi Food and Drug Authorization of foundation results.  

• Print the item endorsement in the pesticide store. 

Preconditions 

1. The recipients will take an arrangement.  

2. Send all documentation identifying with the method as expected for accommodation.  

3. Tests ought to be sent for survey following endorsement of the enrollment.  

4. Pay installment.  

5. Complete the cycle in the structure.  

6. Give all the technique documentation until all models have been finished.  

7. The authentication of enlistment is given for the petitioner and submitted.

Marking language 

1. Ought to be interpreted in Arabic or incorporate Arabic. 

2. In Arabic, key fixings and item data can be supplanted in English by sticker. 

Conditions / criteria within which a product should not be placed on the market

The biggest going with obstacles were lacking products with correct markings.  

(1) No checked research center mixtures have been related to added substances.  

(2) Other mixtures will be applied without authorization, including profoundly harmful pesticides.  

(3) There are no requirements for the presence of a working fixing.  

(4) Some printer creators have dismissed the item. 

How can GPC help you?

Identification of compliance requirements under various guidelines including all data requirements.
Data gap analysis and pre-assessment support
Technical documentation support
Pre and post submission support and technical liaison with authorities.

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Chemical Regulation in Saudi Arabia

Currently Saudi Arabia does not have a chemical inventory, but they have a list of chemicals which are banned from entering the country. However, the Gulf Standardization Organization (GSO) of which Saudi Arabia is a member is investigating to create an overall inventory for the region. The GSO comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates. Local chemical regulations exist within different regions of Saudi Arabia, for example in the cities of Jubail and Yanbu which have their own chemical management systems. The Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu have issued the Royal Commission Environmental Regulations (RCER). It should be noted that based on the RCER all importers and manufacturers are required to comply with this regulation if they intend to sell, distribute, and import chemicals within these regions. The RCER has established its own inventory, Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and labelling requirements.

National Chemical Regulation

Currently there is no established chemical regulation within Saudi Arabia. However, there are guidelines which explain to international importers or manufacturers how to import and manufacture chemical substances in Saudi Arabia. These guidelines, which are published by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), also categorize the chemical substances and set ground for the needed legal and scientific information.

Authority

The Saudi Arabian Standard Organization (SASO) is the main agency responsible for the chemical regulations and standards. The Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Industry is responsible for providing import licenses to companies intending to import or manufacture chemical substances in Saudi Arabia. However, for substances which are categorized as explosive or dangerous to humans and the environment a special request should be submitted to the Ministry of Interior or the Ministry of Health. It should be noted that based on the purpose or the industry that uses the substance, different ministries could be appropriate for the use and regulation. In the table below a summary of different substance categories and responsible ministries is listed (based on the Article 3 of the Law of Chemical Import and Management 2006) 

Responsible Ministries for different substance categories

Substance Category	Responsible Ministry
Substances which are used in explosives	Ministry of Interior
Substances which are used for educational purposes	Ministry of Higher Education
Substances which are used as medical treatment or are used as ingredients in drugs	Ministry of Health
Substances which are used for pesticides, soil enhancers, fertilizers, veterinary medicines, and at agricultural research centers	Ministry of Agriculture
Substances which are used for treatment of water and sewage	Ministry of Water and Electricity
Substances which are used and traded in local markets	Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Substances which are used in commercial institutions
Substances which are used in petroleum operations
Substances which are used in mining operation

Substance Categories

Article 1-1 of the Law on Chemicals Management, also known as Decree No. M/38, which entered into force on 12 June 2006, lists the banned and restricted substances regulated by that law. These are chemicals in the gaseous, liquid, or solid state that are mentioned in scientific references recognized locally or internationally. The nine lists are summarised in the following table.

Summary of the nine lists of banned and restricted substances

List no.	Types of substances	Number of Substances
1	Dangerous chemicals that are used in the composition of explosives	131
2	Chemical precursors that are used in the manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances	19
3	Chemicals that are used in the synthesis of explosives and chemical precursors that are used in the manufacture of drugs and psychotropic substances	5
4	Chemicals banned under the Rotterdam Convention of 1998 regarding prior informed consent procedures for certain dangerous chemicals and pesticides in international trade	43
5	Chemicals banned under the Stockholm Convention of 2001 related to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)	10
6	Chemicals banned under the Montreal Convention of 1987 to ban  chemicals that deplete the ozone layer	96
7	Banned and restricted chemicals listed in the schedules of the  Convention on the Prohibition of the development, production, storage and use of chemical weapons and the destruction of those weapons of 1993 AD, and the Implementation Law of the Chemical Weapons Convention issued by Royal Decree No. (M/75) on 26/10/1426 AH. and its Implementation Regulation.	-
8	Explosive substances for civilian use to which the Explosives and Explosives System promulgated by Royal Decree No. (M/38) on 1 8/4/1428 AH. and its Implementation Regulation	-
9	Chemicals that are not restricted in the above lists.	-

Based on the Saudi Arabia legislation and costumes the following substance type are exempted from the categorisation:

Drugs
Chemicals for household such as detergents, air fresheners, pesticides, and surface and device polishers.
Chemicals imported directly by the armed forces for military purposes

Who should comply

Based on the Law of Chemical Import and Management any individual or company that deals with chemicals including their production, manufacture, circulation, transportation, and storage are subjected to the environmental and import law. Furthermore, there is no Only Representative (OR) role in Saudi Arabia.

Annual Report

Under the Royal Commission Environmental Regulations (RECR) importers and manufacturers of highly toxic chemicals must create and keep an inventory if the volume of the substance exceeds 50 kg. Furthermore, for all chemical substances an inventory should be created and kept if the volume of the substance exceeds 5000 kg. It should be noted that the RECR only applies in the cities of Jubail and Yanbu and on the national scale the importer only is required to provide information regarding the quantities which are consumed, produced, and damaged at the end of each calendar year to the Ministry of Interior.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Based on Article 13 of the Law on Chemicals Management the government of Saudi Arabia has set several penalties for any individual or company not complying with the Law of Chemical Import and Management. The following penalties could be given based on the level of non-compliance:

A fine of no more than 500,000 riyals (approximately US$ 130,000).
Imprisonment up to five years
A five-year ban on the importation and handling of chemicals

Furthermore, in addition to the mentioned penalties, a ruling ordering the return of imported chemicals may also be made.

Compliance

The importer is required to obtain an import license which is granted by the Ministry of Commerce. However, the chemicals which are imported by companies which are located in Saudi Arabia need to obtain an approval and an import license both from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Electricity. Furthermore, due to the reason that Saudi Arabia does not have any chemical inventory nor a chemical registration system, manufacturers are allowed to import chemicals as long as the substance is not in the forbidden list of Saudi Arabia and all information and documents have been presented.