Know about pre shipment inspection procedure

Before your products are dispatched, a pre-shipment inspection ensures that they fulfill your quality standards. A skilled pre shipment inspection procedure ensures that suppliers’ products are ready to be shipped to their intended market. The following are the goals of a pre-shipment inspection:

Examine the merchandise’s quantity and quality.
Ensure that products meet the destination market’s safety requirements.
Prepare an import and billing report.

Pre-shipment inspections were first implemented in 1994 as part of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was later superseded by the World Trade Organization, as a way to strengthen international trade standards (WTO).

The “Agreement on Pre-Shipment Inspection” incorporated a number of obligations, including the application of the following principles to pre-shipment investigations:

Non-discrimination
Transparency
Keeping sensitive company information safe
Delays are avoided.
Price verification based on the price of comparable or similar items in the exporting country, with the exporter having the chance to justify the price charged
Inspection agencies set up appeals mechanisms, and the results are shared with other exporters.

When production is at least 80% complete, accredited inspection organizations conduct pre-shipment inspections. This is your last chance to make changes before your goods is sent, making it a useful tool for protecting your product from costly import hazards. Functionality, performance, durability, general appearance, and dimensions are usually covered during the pre-shipment inspection.

A Pre-Shipment Inspection Procedure include below important steps

Pre-shipment checks take place at the factory or production facility. If the inspectors think that the products may contain banned compounds, they may recommend that they be tested in an off-site lab.

Inspection visit

Verification of quantity

The inspectors count the shipment cartons to make sure the quantity is accurate. Furthermore, this stage assures that the correct amount of products and boxes are shipped to the correct location; hence, a buyer, a supplier, and a bank can agree on a pre-shipment inspection to commence payment for a letter of credit. The packaging is also examined to ensure that the proper packing materials are utilized and that the proper packaging labels are attached in order to ensure safe shipment.

Selection at random

Professional pre-shipment inspection services employ the ANSI/ASQC Z1.4 statistical sample approach, which is widely recognized (ISO 2859-1). An Acceptance Quality Limit specifies the maximum number of flaws in a batch before it is rejected (AQL). The AQL differs based on the product being reviewed, but the goal is to present a balanced and unbiased perspective.

Check for blemishes and poor workmanship

The general workmanship of the finished products is the first thing an inspector looks at from the random selection to check for any readily evident faults. Defects are normally categorized as minor, major, or critical based on preset acceptable tolerance levels, which are usually agreed upon during product development between the manufacturer and supplier.