Saudi Cabinet sets regulations for bottled water exports, imposes fees

Saudi Cabinet approved exporting bottled drinking water outside the Kingdom and set regulations for the process while it prohibited the export of unbottled water and ice.

The Cabinet also approved export fees on exporting plants at SAR 38 per cubic meter or SAR 0.50 per box containing 40 bottles of 330-milliliter capacity .

Under the new regulations, plants should obtain an export license from the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture after the following requirements are met.

-Exports shouldn’t exceed 7% of the actual production capacity of the plant that depends on non-renewable groundwater sources and 60% of the actual production capacity of the plant that uses renewable water sources.

-The regulations should be periodically revised by the Ministry of Environment and published in an official newspaper.