A quality clause should name the specification, how and where the goods are sampled and tested, whether quality is final at loading or destination, how long you have to claim, who settles disputed results and what remedies apply. Each of these removes a common cause of dispute.
Keep the technical detail in an attached specification. The clause then refers to it and sets the rules.
What the clause should cover
- The specification: a named, dated document attached to the contract. See how to write an agri product specification.
- Legal compliance: goods must meet the food law of the destination, including pesticide limits, contaminant limits and a ban on ethylene oxide treatment.
- Approval sample: the reference sample for appearance, colour and flavour, sealed by both sides.
- Sampling: who draws samples, when, from how many bags and under which method.
- Testing: the lab or lab type, accreditation, test methods and units.
- Finality: whether quality is final at loading, at destination, or open to claims within a period.
- Claim period: days from arrival within which a claim must be notified in writing.
- Counter-samples: how many sealed portions, who keeps them and for how long.
- Umpire lab: named, with its result binding and costs paid by the losing party.
- Remedies: price reduction, replacement, reprocessing, return or termination, and who pays costs.
Make limits clear
Write each limit as a number with a unit and method, for example moisture as a maximum percentage by a stated method. Avoid words like "good quality" or "export quality". Name the market's law for residues, such as Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 for the EU, rather than copying limits that may change. Contaminant limits in the EU sit in Regulation (EU) 2023/915.
Tolerances for physical parameters are covered in what tolerances to include for moisture, purity and foreign matter.
Points buyers often miss
- Allowing for measurement uncertainty when results sit close to a limit.
- Who pays for testing when a lot passes, and when it fails.
- What happens if the destination authority holds the goods.
- Whether the supplier can substitute another lot without approval.
- That the clause survives part-shipments and repeat orders.
Make it work in practice
The strongest lever is to tie the balance payment to a clean pre-shipment report from a sample you or your agent drew. Under a letter of credit, name the inspection certificate as a required document. Payment options are covered in typical payment terms for agri imports.
A quality clause that nobody reads on the factory floor will not prevent problems. Ask the supplier to sign the spec separately and share it with their production and quality staff. Review it once a year or when your market's rules change. Keep a version number and date on each spec, so everyone knows which one applies to which order.
How we help
We draft the spec and quality clause with you, agree them with the processor before production, and then run sampling and inspection exactly as written. Ask for a free sourcing review.