No. An approval sample is the sample you accept before you place the order: it sets the standard. A pre-shipment sample is drawn from the actual goods once they are produced and packed, to check that they match the approved sample and the spec.
You need both. The approval sample says what you agreed to buy. The pre-shipment sample says what you are about to receive.
The approval sample
The approval sample usually comes before the contract. You compare samples from different suppliers, test them, and choose one. Once you approve it, it becomes part of the deal alongside the written spec.
- It shows appearance, colour, cleanliness and aroma that are hard to put into words.
- It should carry a reference number that the contract refers to.
- Both you and the supplier should keep a sealed portion of it.
- It may come from a past lot, so it does not prove the shipment lot will be the same.
The pre-shipment sample
The pre-shipment sample is drawn when the order is processed and packed, before the container is loaded. It is taken from the bags that will actually ship, ideally from many bags across the lot rather than from one.
- It is tested against the full spec, including any contaminant and microbiological limits.
- It is compared side by side with the approval sample.
- It should be drawn and sealed by someone working for you, not by the supplier.
- Its results decide whether the goods ship, are reworked, or are replaced.
Why the difference matters
A common problem on first orders is a perfect approval sample followed by a shipment that does not match it. That can happen through honest variation between lots, or because the sample was better than the stock. Our article on why quality drops after the first container explains the usual causes.
If you only test the approval sample, you find out about any gap when the container arrives. At that point the goods are in your country, the money is usually paid, and a claim is slow. Testing the pre-shipment sample moves that discovery to a point where you can still stop the shipment.
There is also a third sample to know about: the arrival sample, drawn at your end. It shows whether anything changed in transit, such as moisture pick-up or damage. It cannot replace the pre-shipment test, because by then the goods are already yours to deal with, but it gives you evidence if a claim is needed.
Making it work in practice
- Write both samples into the contract: the approval reference and the pre-shipment test as a condition of shipment.
- Agree who draws the pre-shipment sample, which lab tests it, and who pays.
- Allow time in the schedule for lab results before the loading date.
- Keep a sealed counter-sample of the shipment lot for any later claim.
- Check the lab report yourself. See reading a lab certificate.
How we help
We hold the approved reference sample, draw and seal pre-shipment samples from the packed lot, have them tested at an NABL-accredited lab and compare them with the approval sample before loading. Ask for a free sourcing review.