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SFDA Wasl Temperature Linking for Meat, Poultry and Fish: What the Reported Rule Means and How to Check It

By Saeed Baatiah · Published:

Short answer

Saudi press, citing the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), reported that meat, poultry and fish factories, warehouses and their vehicles must link temperature and humidity gauges electronically to the Wasl platform from 1 October 2025. We could not find the decision text on sfda.gov.sa, so confirm scope and date with SFDA and use a qualified tracking company.

Key takeaways

  • Okaz reported on 27 September 2025, citing SFDA, that meat, poultry and fish factories, warehouses and their vehicles must link temperature and humidity gauges to Wasl from 1 October 2025.
  • An earlier draft reported in October 2024 covered refrigerated and frozen food more widely, with 1 January 2025 as the expected start, so confirm the final scope with SFDA.
  • The link runs through tracking companies that SFDA qualifies under guide OPS-G-001: sensors placed by a temperature map, one averaged reading per warehouse, and a field test.
  • Ask any provider for proof that it is on the SFDA qualified list, a sensor map, calibration certificates and what alerts your own team receives.
  • ENTEK IoT is not a Wasl integration. ENTEK delivers temperature and humidity alerts as a project and helps you source qualified providers through an RFQ at entek.ai.

01What the reported SFDA requirement says

On 27 September 2025, the Saudi newspaper Okaz reported that the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) had decided to require meat, poultry and fish factories and warehouses, and the vehicles that carry their products, to link their temperature and humidity gauges electronically to Wasl, a government platform. The report gave the start date as 1 October of that year, so 1 October 2025, and said SFDA warned that establishments which do not link would face legal accountability. The stated aim is continuous monitoring of temperature and humidity during storage and transport, to reduce spoilage. A year earlier, on 27 October 2024, the same paper described a wider draft that covered refrigerated and frozen food factories, warehouses and vehicles, with enforcement expected from 1 January 2025. We searched sfda.gov.sa and could not find the final decision text. So treat the scope and the date in this article as reported, not confirmed, and check both with SFDA before you plan a budget around them.

02Wasl, and who is allowed to connect your sensors

Wasl is not new. In November 2020 SFDA announced a service, built with the Transport General Authority, to track and measure temperature and humidity in food and medicine vehicles and warehouses, linked to the Wasl and Bayan platforms. In practice, a business does not wire a sensor to Wasl by itself. SFDA published a guide for qualifying tracking companies, document OPS-G-001, dated 30 November 2021. Under that guide, a tracking company requests the Wasl linking mechanism by email from SFDA, completes the link, then applies to be listed as a qualified provider of tracking services. To qualify, it must place sensors according to a temperature map, send one averaged reading per warehouse when a warehouse has more than one sensor, and prepare one warehouse and one vehicle for a field test. After listing, SFDA checks that vehicle status and sensor readings shown on Wasl match reality. A company that fails and does not correct the fault within 10 days can be removed from the list.

03Who should check whether they are in scope

The 2025 report names three groups in the meat, poultry and fish sectors: factories, warehouses, and the transport vehicles that belong to them. The 2024 draft used a wider phrase, refrigerated and frozen food. That difference matters if you run a dairy cold store, a frozen vegetables warehouse or a third-party cold-chain fleet. Ask SFDA three questions in writing. First, is my activity, as written on my licence, covered by the current decision? Second, does the rule apply to vehicles I own, vehicles I rent, and carriers I contract? Third, which date applies to me, and is there a grace period for gauges already installed? Send the questions through SFDA’s official channels and keep the reply on file. Be careful with a sales sheet that says a sensor is “SFDA approved”. The guide we read qualifies tracking companies, not single sensor models, so the useful question is which listed company will link your sites and vehicles.

04A buyer checklist before you sign with a tracking company

Once you know you are in scope, the purchase becomes a short list of checks. Ask the provider for proof that it appears on SFDA’s list of qualified tracking companies, and confirm that list yourself on sfda.gov.sa. Ask for a temperature map of each warehouse and refrigerated vehicle that shows where every sensor will sit, because the qualification guide is built around one. Ask how the provider averages several sensors into one reading per warehouse, and whether you can still see each sensor on your own screen. Ask about calibration: SFDA inspection teams check electronic gauges during routine visits, so you need a calibration certificate and a renewal date for every gauge. Ask what happens when a vehicle loses signal, and whether readings are stored on the device and sent later. Finally, ask what alerts your own team receives and how fast, because the regulator’s view of your data is not the same as a supervisor getting a message at 3 in the morning.

05Where ENTEK fits, and where it does not

ENTEK IoT is not a Wasl integration. It does not send readings to Wasl, and ENTEK does not offer the regulatory link itself, so that part must come from a tracking company on SFDA’s qualified list. ENTEK can help in two other ways. First, temperature and humidity monitoring is delivered as a project: ENTEK scopes the sensors for cold rooms, warehouses or refrigerated vehicles, supplies the hardware through the ENTEK marketplace or an RFQ, and connects the readings to the same alert engine used across ENTEK IoT. Rules are checked every 30 seconds, and alerts reach named people by email, SMS or WhatsApp, in Arabic or English, usually within about a minute. That gives your operations team its own early warning next to whatever the Wasl provider supplies. Second, you can raise an RFQ at entek.ai that asks verified suppliers to quote for qualified tracking services and compatible loggers, and to attach proof of their SFDA listing to each offer.

Buyer checklist: what to confirm, and with whom
CheckAskWhy it matters
Is my activity in scope, and from which date?SFDA, in writingThe 2025 report and the 2024 draft describe different scopes and dates
Does it cover owned, rented and contracted vehicles?SFDA, in writingThe report names vehicles that belong to factories and warehouses
Is the provider on the qualified tracking companies list?Provider, then check sfda.gov.saThe Wasl link runs through qualified tracking companies
Where will each sensor sit?Provider: temperature map per warehouse and vehicleThe qualification guide places sensors by a temperature map
How are several sensors combined?ProviderThe guide sends one averaged reading per warehouse
Calibration certificate and renewal date for each gaugeProviderSFDA inspection teams check gauge calibration on routine visits
What happens when signal drops?ProviderGaps in vehicle data are hard to explain later
Which alerts reach my own team, and how fast?Provider, or a separate monitoring projectThe regulator’s view is not an alarm for your supervisor

Figures and sources

Questions

Is the SFDA rule to link temperature sensors to Wasl already in force?

Okaz reported in September 2025, citing SFDA, that it applies from 1 October 2025 to meat, poultry and fish factories, warehouses and their vehicles. We could not find the decision text on sfda.gov.sa, so confirm the current status and scope with SFDA directly.

Can I connect my own temperature loggers to Wasl?

The 2024 report described two routes: request a linking guide from SFDA, or contract a qualified tracking company listed on the SFDA website. SFDA’s own guide describes how tracking companies get the linking mechanism and qualify. Most buyers use a listed company.

Does the requirement cover my delivery trucks?

The 2025 report names the transport vehicles that belong to the factories and warehouses. If you rent trucks or use a contracted carrier, ask SFDA in writing how the rule applies to them.

What happens if a site does not link its gauges?

The 2025 report says SFDA warned that establishments that do not comply face legal accountability. None of the sources we opened states a fine amount, so we do not quote one.

Does ENTEK IoT send my temperature readings to Wasl?

No. ENTEK IoT is not a Wasl integration. ENTEK delivers temperature and humidity monitoring with email, SMS and WhatsApp alerts as a project, and you can use an RFQ at entek.ai to source a qualified tracking company for the Wasl link.

Sources

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