The updated Import licensing procedures and guide Issued by Minister of Commerce and Investment decisions No. 106 and No. 107 of 7.4.1441H (27 December 2019) aim to help the business sector, especially small and medium enterprises through removing import
barriers and raising the transparency level for obtaining import licenses as well as regulating the importing process. The previous Import licensing guide was outdated, as many Government bodies either merged under new body, cancelled or newly established; and thus the procedures and the guide had to be modernized.
The basic changes between the old procedures and guide Issued by Council of Ministers decrees No. 84 of 1.4.1421H (3 July 2000), No. 88 of 6.4.1423H (16 June 2002) and the updated ones, are as follows;
•New structure, more user friendly.
•Introduction of new categories of goods that are subject to import licensing requirements in accordance with WTO agreement on import licensing procedures.
•Defined categories of goods tied to the responsible entities, for more organization.
•Clear requirements to ease the process of issuing the licenses.
•Submitting the requests through electronic means (websites and emails), for many categories of goods.
In case of non-approval of an import license, easy and more flexible ways for appeal.