What is pre-shipment inspection?
Independent verification of quality, weight and packing at the load port before the cargo sails, typically by SGS, Intertek, Bureau Veritas or CIQ. It is the buyer’s main protection because a claim after discharge is far harder to enforce.
Cargo surveyors explained: sampling, the assay, the draught survey and the umpire lab
A bulk shipload is worth millions of dollars, and its price depends on what is inside. Samples are taken from the conveyor as the ship loads, and the assay — metal, moisture and impurities — sets the final price. The draught survey weighs the cargo by how deep the ship sits: on a big bulk carrier, one centimetre of draught is more than 100 tonnes. Buyer and seller each send samples to their own lab; if the results are close they split the difference, and if not, a third, independent umpire lab decides. Moisture is a safety matter too: wet ore can liquefy and shift in heavy seas, as when the Bulk Jupiter sank off Vietnam in January 2015 carrying bauxite from Malaysia, with 18 of its 19 crew lost. In bulk commodities, the scale and the lab matter as much as the price.
Key points
- Moves the moment of proof to where the buyer still has leverage.
- Covers quality, quantity, packing and often loading supervision.
- Letting the seller appoint the inspector defeats the purpose.
At a glance
| Abbreviation | PSI |
|---|---|
| When | At the load port, before the vessel sails |
| Covers | Quality, weight, packing, marking, loading supervision |
| Typical inspectors | SGS, Intertek, Bureau Veritas, CIQ |
| Who pays | Per contract; cost sharing is common |
What it covers
Pre-shipment inspection, usually abbreviated PSI, is independent verification at the load port before the cargo leaves. It typically covers quality by sampling and analysis, quantity by weighing or draft survey, and the condition of packing and marking.
It may also include supervision of loading itself — confirming that the material sampled is the material that went on board, which is the link a certificate alone does not establish.
Why it matters more than a post-arrival check
Once a cargo has sailed, the buyer’s practical leverage collapses. Proving that a shortfall or contamination existed at origin rather than arising in transit is difficult, expensive and often impossible, and the seller has already been paid or holds a presentable document set.
PSI moves the moment of proof to the point where the buyer still has leverage: before the bill of lading is issued and before documents are presented under a letter of credit.
Getting the appointment right
The contract should name the inspection company or the mechanism for choosing it, state who pays, and say whether load-port results are final and binding. Splitting the cost is common; leaving the appointment to the seller undermines the independence being paid for.
Some importing countries operate mandatory PSI programmes for customs valuation, in which case the government appoints the agency and the commercial inspection is a separate exercise.
Frequently asked questions
- Who pays for pre-shipment inspection?
- Whatever the contract says. Cost sharing is common, and buyers frequently pay for an inspector they appoint. What matters more than the cost is that the appointing party is not the party being checked.
- Is pre-shipment inspection the same as a CoA?
- No. A CoA is one output of it. Pre-shipment inspection is the wider exercise — sampling, weighing, checking packing and supervising loading — and produces several certificates.
- Can a buyer rely on inspection at the discharge port instead?
- It is much weaker. By then the seller may have been paid, and separating a defect at origin from damage in transit is hard. Discharge-port inspection is best used as a check against the load-port result, not as a substitute.
Related terms
The largest independent inspection, testing and certification company in the world, founded in 1878 and headquartered in Geneva. In commodity trade its certificates of quality and weight are what a buyer, a bank and an insurer all rely on instead of taking the seller’s word.
The laboratory document stating the measured composition of a specific parcel — purity, contaminants, moisture. It refers to the lot actually shipped, unlike a typical or datasheet analysis which describes what a plant usually produces.
The analytical determination of metal content in an ore, concentrate or refined product. Buyer and seller assays commonly differ slightly; contracts usually set a tolerance and appoint an umpire laboratory to settle disputes beyond it.
The document issued by the carrier that serves as receipt for the cargo, evidence of the contract of carriage, and — critically — a document of title. Whoever holds the original endorsed bill controls the goods.
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