G/TBT/W/626  
 
8 April 2019 
(19-2233) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARA BIA – TECHNICAL REGU LATION FOR  
PLASTIC PRODUCTS OXO  – BIODEGRADABLE  
STATEMENT BY THE EUROPEAN UNION TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS T O TRADE  
6 AND 7 MARCH 2019  
The following communication, dated 5 April  2019, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of the European Union . 
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1.  In 2016 , the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia notified  a SASO Technical Regulation for Degradable Plastic 
Products to the TBT Committee, requiring certain types of d isposa ble plastics to be oxo -degradable 
and bear a specific mark to demonstrate compliance.  In Fall 2018, Saudi Arabia announced the 
scope of this measure  would be extend ed to primary and secondary packaging as of February 2019 , 
which was recently postponed to S eptember 2019.  
2.  Though the  European Union commends Saudi Arabia 's commitment to incr ease environmental 
protection, we support the postponement of this implementation pending further scientific studies 
on oxo -biodegradable plastic.   
3.  As SASO issued this regulation more than two years ago, a substantial amount of international 
scientific research has since been undertaken  on so called oxo -biodegradable plastics, also known 
as oxo -degradable plastics, where the results of numerous scientif ic studies  are questionning their 
real environmental benefits.  
4.  As a result, the European Union co -legislators have recently reached a provisional political 
agreement on proposed legislation  on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the  
environment. The proposed legislation  requires EU Member States to prohibit the placing on the 
market of products made from oxo -degradable plastics . In this measure, oxo -degradable plastics 
are defined as "plastic materials that include additives which, t hrough oxidation, lead to the 
fragmentation of the plastic material into micro -fragments or to chemical decomposition ". This is 
likely to be adopted before the summer and will have to be implemented by the EU Member States 
within  two years after its entry into force.  
5.  If Saudi Arabia implements this requirement for primary and secondary packaging, it will 
therefore constitute a serious barrier to trade for various EU industries exporting products packaged 
in stretch and shrink film to Saudi Arabia, including  the toy, cosmetics, textiles, machinery, and 
food/drink industry.   
6.  Saudi Arabia should also consider the fact that this tendency goes beyond the EU, as last year 
more than 150  international  companies, trade associations, scientists and NGOs issued a call for 
governments around the world to ban oxo -degradable plastics.   
7.  For these reasons, the EU would like to invite Saudi Arabia to review its regulation on plastics to, 
on one hand, ensure tha t the EU and Saudi Arabia 's environmental objectives are aligned, and do 
this in a way that does not create unnecessary obstacles for our economic operators.  G/TBT/W/626  
 
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  8.  The EU has recently engaged with SASO to communicate our concerns, which led to cooperative 
excha nges and both parties agreeing to update each other on their respective studies.  The EU looks 
forward to pursue this dialogue in the coming months and encourages Saudi Arabia  to maintain the 
suspension of the measure and reassess the situation only after t he necessary scientific studies have 
been finalized, exchanged and discussed among us.  
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