You can use your own lab results to reject a shipment if your contract says destination results are final, or allows claims on them, and the sample was drawn and handled as the contract describes. If the contract is silent, the supplier can dispute your results and rely on pre-shipment tests.
The question is settled at contract stage, not after the goods arrive.
Final at loading or final at destination
Agri contracts usually say where quality is final. "Quality final at loading" means the pre-shipment certificate decides, and your own results carry little weight unless there is fraud. "Quality final at destination" means results from an agreed sample at arrival decide. Many contracts sit between the two, allowing claims on destination results within a set period.
Food safety rules sit on top of this. If your authorities find a lot unsafe, you cannot sell it, whatever the contract says about quality. The contract then decides who bears the loss.
Your own results hold up best when the following points are met.
- The contract names the lab type or the specific lab, such as an accredited lab in your country.
- Sampling followed an agreed plan, ideally in front of an independent surveyor.
- Samples were sealed, coded and documented.
- The test method matches the one in the spec.
- The result exceeds the limit allowing for measurement uncertainty.
- The supplier was notified within the claim period.
When the supplier disputes
Offer a joint test of the sealed counter-sample at an umpire lab named in the contract. Agree in advance that the umpire result is binding and who pays for it. Usually the losing party pays.
Some products have recognised sampling standards. For spices, ISO 948 sets out sampling methods, and some trade contracts refer to association rules. Using a recognised method makes your result harder to challenge. Counter-sample practice is covered in how long to keep counter-samples.
Weak claims to avoid
For the full claims process, see how to handle a quality claim.
- A sample taken from one opened bag rather than across the lot.
- A lab report with no method, no limit of quantification or a different lot number.
- Tests run months after arrival on goods stored poorly.
- Parameters that were never in the spec.
Border rejections are different
If your own authority rejects the shipment at the border, you are not relying only on your own lab. The official result carries weight with the supplier, and alerts such as RASFF in the EU are public. Even so, your contract still decides who pays. Make sure it says that goods must meet the food law of the destination country, so a lawful official rejection is clearly the supplier's responsibility.
How Creston & Co handles this
We draft quality and sampling clauses with you before the first order, so the rules on whose results count are clear. If a claim arises, we retest the sealed counter-sample and take the case to the supplier. Start with a free sourcing review.