ZATCA Customs Clearance 2026: What Logistics Firms Do

ZATCA customs clearance is the step where a shipment either keeps moving or sits at the port. In June 2026 the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) amended the rules behind it. For owners and managers of logistics, import and e-commerce businesses in Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh and beyond, the practical message is simple: clearance is fast when your documents are complete and consistent, and slow when they are not.

ZATCA customs clearance: what changed in June 2026

ZATCA amended the Controls Regulating Customs Procedures and the Rules of Bonded Zones through Governor’s Decision No. 13-99-1448. Deloitte dates the decision 18 June 2026, and Alvarez & Marsal reports that the amendments took effect on 26 June 2026. The changes that matter most to operators are these:

• Documents: government-issued certificates must reflect the nature of the goods, such as security clearances and health certificates. ZATCA may also request full invoice chains, payment records and non-tampering certificates before it clears goods.
• Deferred declarations: members of the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programme may defer customs declarations and duties on goods from suspended areas. VAT is handled separately, and consolidated declarations are due within 30 days.
• Bonded zones: a single document now replaces separate transit and entry declarations, and storage is capped at five years, extendable on request. Goods listed on a manifest may be placed in a bonded zone before the import declaration is created, with the Authority’s prior approval.
• E-commerce parcels: the Authority may accept the postal forms CN22 and CN23 as customs declarations, processed according to risk standards.

These points come from Deloitte’s summary of the amended rules. Check the full text, or ask your customs broker, before you change a process, because the rules depend on your licence type and the goods you handle.

Why documents now decide your clearance time

Customs clearance has already been shortened a great deal. According to the World Customs Organization, clearing a shipment took importers up to 12 days in 2017, with an average of 8 days. ZATCA’s “Clearance within Two Hours” initiative, launched in 2023, reduced the supporting documents from 12 to two (the invoice and the bill of lading), added an automated risk engine and connected 26 government agencies’ systems through the FASAH platform.

When the process is that lean, the main cause of delay is the declaration itself. A mismatch between the invoice, the bill of lading and the declaration, a wrong tariff code or a missing certificate is what stops a container. ZATCA’s power to request the full invoice chain makes this more important, not less.

Regional shipping disruption adds pressure. In March 2026, Saudia Cargo, the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) and ZATCA announced sea-to-air routes from Jeddah Islamic Port, with cargo moving under a single customs declaration. Faster routes only help if your paperwork keeps up.

Where AI helps with customs documents

The following are our recommendations for the repetitive checking work that sits before a declaration. AI prepares and flags; your customs broker or trained staff still decide and submit.

• Reading commercial invoices, packing lists and bills of lading, in Arabic and English, and extracting the fields into one record.
• Cross-checking quantities, values, supplier names and consignee details across the document set, and flagging differences before submission.
• Checking that every required certificate is present for the goods, and chasing the supplier when one is missing.
• Filing each shipment’s documents in one searchable folder, so you can answer an Authority request for an invoice chain in minutes.
• Feeding clearance dates and delays into a weekly dashboard, so you can see which suppliers and routes cause the most holds.

This is mostly an integration task: the AI has to read what arrives by email, WhatsApp and your supplier portals, and write into your ERP or freight system. Our document processing automation solution covers the reading and checking, and an AI Architecture Audit shows whether your systems are ready for it. Our post on AI invoice processing and ZATCA e-invoicing covers the finance side of the same documents.

A seven-step customs readiness checklist

• Ask your customs broker which of the June 2026 changes apply to your licence and your goods.
• Pick your last 30 shipments and record how long each took to clear and why any were held.
• List every document you need per shipment and who supplies it.
• Check whether you could produce a full invoice chain and payment records for any shipment within one working day.
• Decide whether you qualify for, or should apply to, the AEO programme if you import regularly.
• Pilot document checking on one supplier or one route for four to eight weeks, measured against the baseline from step two.
• Keep a person responsible for every declaration, and keep the AI’s flags as a record.

Where to start

Start with the baseline: how long clearance takes today and why shipments are held. That tells you whether your problem is documents, suppliers or systems. When you are ready to test a fix, book a free discovery call with Scalor Systems at scalorsystems.com/contact.

Sources

1. Deloitte Middle East: Important Updates to KSA Regulations Governing Customs Procedures and Rules in the Deposit Areas (Bonded Zones) (12 July 2026)
2. VAT Update, from Alvarez & Marsal Middle East Tax Alert: Saudi Arabia Expands Customs and VAT Suspension Rules in Bonded Zones (30 July 2026)
3. World Customs Organization, WCO News 103: Saudi Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) introduces Clearance Within Two Hours Initiative
4. ZATCA: ZATCA Issues the Regulating Controls for Customs Procedures (29 December 2023)
5. Payload Asia: Saudia Cargo, Mawani, and ZATCA launch sea-to-air logistics corridor linking western ports to airports (17 March 2026)