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Pre-shipment Inspection
Let’s learn about pre-shipment inspection. Government of India notifies, from time to time, a number of goods whose export is subject to compulsory quality control or pre- shipment inspection. Consequently, the Indian customs authorities will require the submission of an inspection certificate issued by the designated. agency bef6repermitting the shipment to take place. The basis of inspection is usually the importer’s specification, except in the case of export of goods involving safety or health hazards, where notified minimum standards are enforced. Inspection of export goods may be conducted under:
- Consignment-wise Inspection
- In-process Quality Control
- Self-Certification
There are two types of PSI companies:
- Free-market companies which are privately owned, selling their services to the market. Risks involved might be, especially if it is a smaller company, that the company is paid by the manufacturer and working in its interest.
- State owned inspection companies: only very few companies operating on the market are state-owned or partly state-owned. The shareholding of governmental institutions guarantees independence and objectivity.
A higher form of the PSI is called expediting, in which the dates of delivery and the production are included in the control.
PSI increases burdens and costs in international trade and can be counter-productive for the country of importation and its traders.
Several countries are considering termination on the use of inspection companies’ service, following upon WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation Article 10.5 Pre-shipment Inspection : 5.1. Members shall not require the use of pre-shipment inspections in relation to tariff classification and customs valuation.
