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Weight and quality certificate
On bulk agricultural shipments an independent surveyor weighs the cargo and draws samples at loading, issuing a certificate that both sides contract against. It exists because weight and quality disputes on bulk goods are otherwise unresolvable once the container has sailed.
The essentials.
- Independent, at loading
- A surveyor engaged separately from buyer and seller attends the loading, supervises weighing and draws a representative sample.
- It settles weight
- For goods sold by weight, the certificate is what the invoice is based on and what a shortage claim would be measured against.
- It settles the sample
- The sample the certificate covers is the one a laboratory analyses, and a retained portion is held for a second opinion.
- It is a contract term
- Which surveyor, who pays, and whether their figures are final have to be agreed before shipment rather than after a disagreement.
Who asks for it.
This travels with the goods wherever they go. Either Indonesia requires it on the way out, or it is an ordinary trade document that any buyer, bank and carrier expects to see.
What it does not cover.
It is only as good as the sampling
On bulk goods with variation, how the sample was drawn decides whether it represents the cargo. A certificate over a badly drawn sample is a precise number about the wrong material.
It does not inspect quality beyond the sample
Where quality is judged by a laboratory, the certificate covers the sample and the analysis is separate. Where it is judged visually, it covers what the surveyor saw.
Final means final
Where the contract says the certificate is binding, a later disagreement at destination has no route back. That is the point of it and it cuts both ways.
Questions buyers ask.
Who pays for it?
It is negotiated, and splitting the cost is common because both sides benefit from a figure neither can dispute. What matters more than who pays is that the surveyor is genuinely independent of both.
Is it worth it on a container?
On bulk agricultural goods sold by weight, usually yes, because a weight dispute after arrival has no way to resolve. On manufactured goods sold by count, a pre-shipment inspection with a physical count does the same job.
What if origin and destination weights differ?
Moisture loss in transit accounts for some of it legitimately, particularly on agricultural goods. That is why the contract should say which weight governs and allow a tolerance, agreed before shipment.
Where this comes up.
Indonesian coffee
Arabica and robusta origins, wet-hulling, how the national standard grades a lot, packing, and the documents a buyer needs including EUDR.
Indonesian pepper
Two named Indonesian origins, and the FAQ against ASTA distinction that decides what actually arrives in the bag. What a pepper contract has to name.
Indonesian cocoa beans
Why fermentation decides the price, what the national grade does not cover, and the documents an Indonesian cocoa shipment needs including EUDR.
Indonesian cashew nuts
Indonesia mostly exports raw cashew nuts, not kernels. What outturn means, why it decides the price, and what to check if you want processed grades.
Indonesian natural rubber
The SIR grade number is a dirt limit. What the Indonesian standard actually specifies, and why rubber now sits inside the EU deforestation rules.
Inspecting before it sails
The five moments worth inspecting, what a report has to contain, and the mistake that makes an inspection worthless.
Worth reading.
Need this document for a real shipment?
Tell us the product and the destination port. We come back with the full document set for that route, who issues each one, and how long it takes.