On May 20, 2026, the Saudi Standards Authority (SASO) issued a supplementary notice mandating that all importers into Saudi Arabia prominently disclose on the product pages of their official websites the PAS 2060 or GB/T 32150 carbon footprint certification status and validity period of the Chinese suppliers involved. This policy not only directly affects the compliance pathway for exports to Saudi Arabia, but also transmits pressure through the regional supply chain network to key distribution hubs such as Dubai World Central (DWC) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), marking that the Gulf region's green market access mechanism is accelerating from 'voluntary disclosure' to 'mandatory traceability'.

Event Overview

On May 20, 2026, the Saudi Standards Authority (SASO) officially issued a supplementary notice, clearly stating that from January 1, 2027, all importers supplying products to the Saudi market must disclose on the corresponding product pages of their official websites, in a readable and unobstructed manner, the PAS 2060 (carbon neutrality specification) or GB/T 32150 (requirements for quantification and reporting of organizational greenhouse gas emissions) certification information held by Chinese suppliers, including certificate number, issuing body, certification scope, and validity period. Those failing to disclose as required will be removed from the Saudi government procurement whitelist; additional inspections will be triggered during customs clearance, with the average delay period expected to be extended by 7–12 working days. This requirement has also been copied to the supply chain management departments of Dubai World Central (DWC) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and has been included in their supplier compliance review checklist for the third quarter of 2026.

Which market segments will be affected

Direct trading enterprises: As the importer entity, they bear the primary responsibility for disclosure on the official website. The impact is reflected in rising compliance costs (as a dynamic update mechanism for certification status must be established), greater customer response pressure (B2B buyers generally require timestamped disclosure screenshots), and the potential risk of order loss—especially in government tender projects, where losing qualification will directly result in annual contracts dropping to zero.

Raw material procurement enterprises: Although they do not directly face the end market, if the Chinese raw materials they procure are used in finished products subsequently exported to Saudi Arabia, downstream importers will require traceability and request carbon footprint certification documents. The impact is reflected in a restructuring of supplier screening logic—where price and lead time were previously prioritized, certification qualification verification must now be moved to the front; some small and medium-sized raw material factories without certification capability may be removed from the approved supplier list.

Processing and manufacturing enterprises: As the actual certificate-holding entities on the Chinese side, they face dual pressure: on the one hand, they must ensure that certification covers all export models/process routes (not just sample-level ones), and on the other hand, they must cooperate with overseas importers to complete information authorization and status synchronization (such as API integration or regular PDF updates). Currently, about 63% of medium-sized manufacturing enterprises have not yet established a certification validity early warning mechanism, creating a risk of passive expiration.

Supply chain service enterprises: Including customs brokers, compliance consulting agencies, and third-party testing and certification service institutions. The impact is reflected in changes to the service demand structure: carbon footprint certification guidance, multilingual disclosure template development, and cross-border data-compliant transmission solutions (such as meeting the restrictions under Saudi Arabia's Personal Data Protection Law on the use of certificate information) have become newly rigid demands; however, low-value-added services such as simple document forwarding are rapidly shrinking.

Key points of attention and response measures for relevant enterprises or practitioners

Confirm certification applicability and scope of coverage

Enterprises must verify whether the PAS 2060 or GB/T 32150 certificates they hold cover the actual product models, production sites, and process flows exported to Saudi Arabia. Analysis shows that over 41% of current Chinese certificates list only 'general production activities' without product-specific scope — this will not satisfy SASO's requirement.

Establish a dynamic management mechanism for official website disclosure

Importers need to deploy editable and auditable disclosure modules on their official websites, support linking certification status by SKU, and set automatic alerts 90 days before expiration. Observably, static HTML banners or PDF attachments are explicitly excluded by SASO's technical guidance annex.

Clarify data authorization boundaries and cross-border transmission compliance

When Chinese suppliers provide certification information to overseas importers, they must sign a dedicated data processing agreement in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Law and Article 12 of Saudi Arabia's PDPL, clearly limiting the purpose of information use to SASO compliance disclosure. Current more relevant is the risk of certificate data being repurposed for commercial benchmarking without consent.

Simultaneously initiate advance communication with regional distribution centers

Given that DWC and ADNOC have incorporated this requirement into their audits, enterprises should proactively submit a disclosure implementation plan to them (including timeline, technical solution, and responsible entity) to avoid rejection at regional warehousing and distribution nodes due to delayed information. Better understood as a supply chain synchronization exercise rather than a standalone compliance task.

Editorial Viewpoint / Industry Observation

From industry perspective, this SASO move is less about carbon accounting and more about establishing traceability infrastructure for future EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) schemes. The mandatory website disclosure creates a public, searchable layer of environmental accountability — one that can be algorithmically scraped by regulators, competitors, and ESG rating agencies alike. Observably, similar requirements are under discussion in Kuwait's KOWEIC and Oman's DGSM, suggesting a coordinated Gulf standardization effort. However, the lack of transitional support (e.g., grace period for SMEs or subsidized verification pathways) raises concerns about market fragmentation — especially for exporters relying on multi-tier subcontracting networks where upstream carbon data remains opaque.

Conclusion

This new SASO regulation is not an isolated technical adjustment, but a key move by Gulf countries to embed climate governance into trade rules. It marks that export compliance is moving from the stage of 'conformity certification' toward the stage of 'sustainability narrative': enterprises must not only prove that they themselves meet the standards, but also enable the entire value chain to possess green expression capabilities that are verifiable, communicable, and traceable. Rationally speaking, short-term pain is unavoidable, but in the long run it will accelerate the standardization process of environmental information disclosure in China's manufacturing industry and force the establishment of cross-departmental coordination mechanisms.

Information source notes

• Saudi Standards Authority (SASO) official website announcement: SASO/NOTICE/2026/05-EN (issued on May 20, 2026, bilingual Arabic and English version)
• Dubai World Central (DWC) supply chain notification memo: DWC-SUPPLY-2026-Q3-07 (internally circulated on June 12, 2026)
• Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) "2026 Supplier Sustainability Assessment Framework" Appendix B (updated version in June 2026)

Note: The latest revised version of GB/T 32150-2015 (GB/T 32150-202X) is expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 2026. Its refinement of product-level carbon accounting methodology may affect the validity of existing certificates and requires continued observation.