المملكة: A professional certificate, a ban on obstructing field personnel, and keeping records for 3 years…the most prominent “statistics” controls – urgent

The General Authority for Statistics presented a draft of the executive regulations for the statistics system via the “Estilaa” platform, providing a comprehensive regulatory framework aimed at controlling data collection mechanisms and ensuring their quality.

The regulations set clear rules for making information available, regulate cooperation between agencies, and create a system for statistical licenses, with the aim of building an integrated system that supports decision-making.

The regulations created a special chapter for statistical licenses, requiring establishments wishing to obtain Practicing the activity must be licensed to work in the Kingdom, and the owner of the facility or one of his partners must hold a “professional statistical certificate,” the issuance of which will be regulated by the Authority.

The regulations set the financial fee for issuing the license at 5,000 Saudi riyals for a period of three years, while the renewal fees amount to 3,000 riyals for the same period.

It obligated licensed establishments to strictly adhere to the Authority’s standards and the Statistical Business Ethics Charter, train their staff, and display the license clearly. At its headquarters and websites.

The new controls imposed on licensees to keep a record of statistical work and its results for a period of no less than three years, and to notify the Authority of any amendments to their documents within twenty working days, to ensure the highest levels of transparency and commitment.

To ensure the flow of data, the Executive Regulations obligated all public entities, private establishments and individuals to provide the Authority with the data required for non-commercial statistical purposes “without financial compensation”, emphasizing the necessity of the accuracy and completeness of this data.

The provisions stressed the need for establishments and individuals to fully cooperate with the Authority’s field representatives, and prohibited any form of abuse or obstruction of their work related to data collection.

With regard to government cooperation, the regulations established clear coordination mechanisms with public agencies to develop administrative forms and records, and evaluate the quality of data, while obliging these agencies to provide technical and logistical support to the Authority without bearing any financial costs, and to fully maintain the confidentiality of information.

The regulations also organized the process of Making data available to researchers and academics, on the condition of full compliance with the personal data protection system, and ensuring that the data is processed in ways that prevent inferring the identity of its owners, provided that this is done exclusively through the authority’s official channels.

The General Authority for Statistics confirmed that the regulations will come into effect as of the effective date of the statistics system, after its publication in the Official Gazette, which represents a pivotal step to ensuring the reliability and accuracy of national statistical data.

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