Article 3 of the Saudi Handicrafts and Manual Industries Law
المادة 3 من نظام الحرف والصناعات اليدوية · الفصل الأول: أحكام عامة
The article sets out the Handicrafts Law's objectives: regulating and developing the activity, protecting it from disappearing, strengthening its competitiveness and marketing its products locally and abroad.
Official text (Arabic)
This article has not been amended since the law was issued.
يهدف النظام إلى تنظيم نشاط الحرف والصناعات اليدوية وتنميتها وتطويرها، بما يسهم في تعزيز هذا النشاط ذي الصلة بالتراث الثقافي الوطني المتوارث، والمحافظة عليه، وحمايته من الاندثار، وتعزيز قدرته التنافسية بما يسهم في توفير منتجات وخدمات قادرة على المنافسة، وتسويقها محليًّا وخارجيًّا.
This is the official Arabic wording, the only legally binding version. We do not translate the law itself; the explanation below is ours. Official source: Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers
Article 3 explained in plain English
This article explains the purpose of the Handicrafts Law, a purpose that helps in understanding and interpreting its other provisions.
The Law aims to:
- Regulate the crafts and handicrafts activity.
- Develop and improve it, in a way that helps strengthen this activity, which is tied to the inherited national cultural heritage.
- Preserve it and protect it from disappearing.
- Strengthen its competitiveness, in a way that helps provide products and services able to compete.
- Market them locally and abroad.
These objectives show that the Law is not limited to supervision; it combines regulation on the one hand with support and protection on the other. Under Article 2, a craft is an activity based mainly on manual work that draws its designs and elements from the cultural heritage handed down in the regions of the Kingdom, or that provides services related to craft products, and one of the Law's aims is to preserve this activity and protect it from disappearing.
Article 4 then puts the regulatory side into effect: it allows the craftsperson to apply for entry in the National Register of Craftspeople under the conditions and procedures the Regulations set, and it prohibits practicing the craft for commercial purposes or trading as a main activity in craft products without first obtaining the craft license from the Commission.
The article does not create direct rights or obligations, but it clarifies the general spirit in which the remaining articles of the Law are read.
Translated from our Arabic explanation with machine assistance. For guidance only; it does not replace advice from a lawyer on your situation.
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Frequently asked questions about Article 3 of the Saudi Handicrafts and Manual Industries Law
What are the objectives of the Handicrafts Law?
To regulate, develop and improve the crafts activity, preserve it and protect it from disappearing, strengthen its competitiveness, and market its products and services locally and abroad.
Does the Law aim to support craftspeople or to monitor them?
The Law's objectives combine regulating the activity with developing it, protecting it, strengthening its competitiveness and marketing its products.
More articles on Definition of Crafts and Handicrafts
- Article 1
The article defines the key terms of the Handicrafts Law, including the craftsperson, the National Register of Craftspeople, the craft license, the Commission and the Ministry.
يُقصد بالألفاظ والعبارات الآتية -أينما وردت في هذا النظام- المعاني المبيّنة أمام كل منها، ما لم يقتضِ السياق غير ذلك: النظام: نظام الحرف والصناعات اليدوية. اللا
- Article 2
The article defines a craft or handicraft as an activity based mainly on manual work and divides it into artistic or heritage production and service crafts.
لأغراض تطبيق النظام، يقصد بالحرفة والصناعة اليدوية كل نشاط يرتكز أساسًا على العمل اليدوي، ويهدف إلى الإنتاج الذي يستمد تصاميمه وشكله وعناصره الفنية والزخرفية من
- Article 17
The article requires the Minister of Culture to issue the Law's Implementing Regulations within no more than 120 days of publication in the Official Gazette, and they take effect when the Law does.
يصدر الوزير اللائحة خلال مدة لا تتجاوز (مائة وعشرين) يومًا من تاريخ نشر النظام في الجريدة الرسمية، ويعمل بها من تاريخ نفاذه.
- Article 18
The article provides that the Handicrafts Law takes effect 120 days after its publication in the Official Gazette and repeals any provision that conflicts with it.
يعمل بالنظام بعد مضي (مائة وعشرين) يومًا من تاريخ نشره في الجريدة الرسمية، ويلغي كل ما يتعارض معه من أحكام.
The texts are reproduced from the official website of the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers for reference; where they differ, the officially published Arabic text prevails. This content is not legal advice.