Inspection and Sampling
GAFTA & FOSFA cargo sureveyors
Business
INSPECTION AND SAMPLING – GAFTA & FOSFA CARGO SURVEYORS
GAFTA Surveyors and FOSFA Superintendents – inspection and sampling services you can trust
As a GAFTA or FOSFA member, you must be sure that the commodity cargoes and shipments you receive match exactly the specifications of the consignment you ordered. But if you don’t appoint a reputable, internationally recognised inspection specialist to supervise loading and discharge, how do you know that your cargo is in good order – correctly weighed and free of contamination – and that the vessel is seaworthy?
Alex Stewart Agriculture’s experienced GAFTA and FOSFA approved cargo inspectors, cargo surveyors, cargo superintendents and cargo supervisors can carry out qualitative and quantitative sampling during all phases of goods transportation. Our cargo surveyors and superintendents ensure that your GAFTA and FOSFA contractual requirements are carried out, protecting you from unnecessary financial claims.
Our inspection team will ensure that you can be confident that the quality, weighing and sampling of your product will be supervised and verified with professional care and attention, from load port to final destination, whether by draft survey, weighbridge, monitoring or truck reconciliation.
Supervision, inspection and sampling strictly adhere to standard operating procedures and are carried out according to GAFTA and FOSFA contracts and their standards. Inspectors and cargo surveyors are present throughout the supervision. By following correct sampling methods thoroughly and methodically, they ensure that the quality of the samples is homogenous and represents the cargo as a whole.
INSPECTION RISK MANAGEMENT
Inspection Risk Management (IRM) is a value-added GAFTA-regulated inspection service that helps to control the inherent risks associated with bulk shipment of cargoes between major ports.
Our IRM service guarantees a total line of quality-management inspection, supervision and analysis throughout the shipment process – from initial classification to final delivery.
Our inspectors will be present throughout loading and discharge to supervise operations, detect inferior quality cargo and ensure that correct procedures are being followed, to prevent discrepancies and protect your consignment from contamination or damage. Letters of Protest can be issued upon request. Digital photographs can also be taken to provide visual evidence of the material’s quality and cargo operations. A detailed report will be produced and emailed to you as soon as the work is completed.
INSPECTION SERVICES
- Pre-Shipment Inspections.
- Storage & Stowage Inspections.
- Transportable Moisture Determination.
- Hatch Hose Testing.
- Establishing Source of Water Ingress.
- Ullaging of ships tanks & quantity calculations.
- Hold Suitability for Nominated Cargo.
- Tank Cleanliness Inspection.
- Temperature Determination.
- Supervision of Discharge/Loading.
- Recording of Cargo Distribution.
- Control of Cargo Movement.
- Monitoring of Cargo Handling.
- Letters of Protest.
- Finished Product Inspection.
- Store Intervention.
- Damaged Cargo Inspections.
- Quality Control.
- Loss Control.
- Weight Control – Quay/Weighbridge.
- Tallying & Stockpile Control.
- Calibration of weighing Equipment.
- Weighing Supervision.
- Sampling & Quality Sample Preparation.
- Moisture Determination.
- Size Determination.
- Granulometry Testing.
- Viscosity.
- CMS.
- Crop Monitoring.
PRE-SHIPMENT INSPECTION (PSI)
We provide reliable pre-shipment inspection (PSI) services for both quality and quantity with specific regard to our clients’ procurement supply chain for bulk soft commodities. It includes traceability elements such as farm audits, crop monitoring, produce classification, agro-chemicals including fertilisers, stock monitoring and weighbridge control.
We provide physical and visual inspection of goods pre or post shipment, to establish that imported and exported goods and their invoice value, tariff code and customs duty all conform to specification and correspond to packing lists so that they can clear customs in any given country. PSI prevents over-invoicing and helps customs to collect correct duties.
Our PSI and analysis services include:
- Checking that the product is within specification and fit for intended purpose.
- Assessment and inspection of quality control processes.
- Witnessing in-house tests.
- Packaging reporting services (ie checking labelling and documentation).
- Weight verification (ie gross, tare and net).
- Bagging supervision (ie checking bag strength and durability).
For more information about our world-class inspection and sampling services please call: +44 (0) 151 525 1488
Our Locations
A Global Network
- AS Inspections, Loads and Discharge Operations
- AS Laboratory, Sample Preparation and Customer Services
- AS Government Business Headquarters