GLOSSARY
Pre-shipment inspection (PSI)
An independent third-party inspection of goods before shipment, verifying quantity, quality, and compliance with the contract or destination-country requirements.
Pre-shipment inspection (PSI) is an independent third-party verification of goods carried out at the seller's premises or the port of loading before shipment leaves the country of origin. Inspectors verify quantity, quality, packaging, marking, and — where applicable — compliance with the destination country's import regulations and product standards.
Why it matters
PSI sits at the intersection of trade-finance risk, customs facilitation, and quality assurance. Buyers commonly require PSI to release payment under letters of credit or documents against payment — the inspection certificate is part of the document set. Some destination governments mandate PSI for specific goods or import values, often as a customs valuation tool to combat under-invoicing.
The WTO Pre-shipment Inspection Agreement disciplines how mandatory programmes are run by user-government inspection agencies (such as SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek, Cotecna). For voluntary commercial PSI, terms — sample sizes, inspection criteria, certificate formats, dispute mechanisms — are negotiated in the underlying sale contract.