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Okaz reported on June 24, 2026 that the Ministry of Environment submitted a proposal to amend Articles 24 and 25 of Cabinet Decision No. 431/1442 approving the Agriculture Law. The revisions would introduce fines as high as 15 million riyals for violators while clarifying enforcement mechanisms across the agricultural and veterinary sectors. The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture first advanced the underlying law in 2021 to regulate activities and promote sustainability.
The proposed amendment to Article 24 stipulates that inspectors appointed by ministerial decision will hold authority to detect, investigate and formally record violations of the law and its regulations. These inspectors must present official identification when exercising their powers while those responsible for inspected sites are required to cooperate fully by providing documents, samples and any additional information requested. Failure to comply with these cooperation requirements would itself amount to a violation under the amended provisions.
Inspectors would gain further powers to stop any container or vehicle suspected of breaching the regulations along with the ability to enter agricultural and veterinary facilities to review records, obtain document copies and collect samples where necessary. In cases of confirmed violations the inspectors may seize agricultural resources, vehicles and tools used in the offence, referring the matter to the competent authority within seven days. They would also hold authority to close unlicensed veterinary facilities immediately and to issue warnings for minor breaches.
Documentation maintained by the United Nations Environment Programme describes the original Agriculture Law as consisting of 37 articles that regulate the agricultural sector along with its management, protection, development and sustainability. The 2021 Cabinet decision established baseline requirements that the current proposal seeks to reinforce through higher financial penalties and more explicit procedural rules. Saudi authorities have issued periodic updates to these rules to align with evolving sector needs.
A report carried on the Saudi Food Tech portal placed the agricultural sector’s contribution to gross domestic product at SAR 114 billion for 2024, a record level that surpassed interim expectations under the Vision 2030 framework. Al Majalla reported that agricultural output had doubled from 6 million tonnes in 2016 to more than 12 million tonnes by 2025 while self-sufficiency rates reached 109 percent for dairy products, 116 percent for eggs, 60 percent for poultry and 55 percent for seafood. These gains have coincided with agricultural financing exceeding 6.7 billion dollars between 2021 and 2025.
The my.gov.sa platform noted that authorities had previously established tables classifying violations in the agricultural sector and determining corresponding penalties scaled according to severity under the same Cabinet decision. Those earlier classifications supplied the foundation for enforcement activity that the new proposal would supplement with substantially elevated fines. Industry overviews from Saudi Agriculture indicated that investments in the sector are expected to reach 70 billion dollars by 2030.
