This policy sets out how quality is defined, how it is tested, and what happens when a buyer believes a shipment has not met it. It forms part of our Terms of Sale.
It exists because most quality disputes in the spice trade are not really disputes about quality. They are disputes about which specification applied, which method was used to test against it, and whether the sample tested actually represents the lot. Agreeing those three things in advance settles most arguments before they start.
The specification is the contract
Quality is judged against the written specification recorded in the order confirmation, and against nothing else. A complete specification states, for the product concerned:
- the grade and the form: whole, cracked or ground, and the mesh or particle size where relevant;
- the quality parameters that matter for that product, such as moisture, volatile oil, curcumin content, capsaicin or Scoville value, extractable colour, admixture and foreign matter, insect damage and mould;
- the microbiological limits, where the buyer requires them;
- any treatment applied, and any treatment prohibited;
- the test method for each parameter, and the tolerance;
- packing, net weight per unit, and labelling.
Where the specification names no method, the recognised trade method for that parameter applies. Results obtained by a different method are not comparable, and a result outside specification by one method does not establish non-conformity when the contract named another.
Parameters that change on the way
Some parameters are not stable, and both parties need to know that before shipment rather than after.
- Extractable colour in chilli and paprika falls with time, heat and light exposure. A figure certified at loading will be lower on arrival after several weeks in a container. Specify the value required and the point at which it is to be met: at loading, or at discharge. Those are different commitments.
- Volatile oil in cardamom, cumin, coriander and clove declines in storage, and more quickly in ground material than in whole.
- Moisture migrates within a stuffed container as it passes through temperature cycles, and can condense on the goods. This is a condition and stowage question, not a quality question at origin.
Testing and sampling
Each lot is tested before shipment and released with a certificate of analysis against the agreed specification. Where the buyer’s contract calls for them, additional certificates can be arranged: pesticide residue screens against a named market’s limits, aflatoxin and other mycotoxins, heavy metals, microbiological analysis, and treatment or non-treatment declarations.
Buyers may appoint an independent inspection agency to draw and test samples before shipment at their own cost, provided this is agreed at order confirmation and arranged so it does not push the shipment outside the agreed window.
We retain sealed representative samples of each shipped lot for twelve months from the shipment date. Those samples are the reference in any dispute. A claim tested against material that cannot be tied back to the shipped lot cannot be assessed.
Destination limits are agreed in advance
Regulatory limits differ between markets and change. Maximum residue levels, mycotoxin limits, permitted treatments and contaminant limits in the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Gulf states are not the same as one another, and are not the same as India’s export standards.
Tell us the destination market and the standard you are buying to before the contract is confirmed, so the specification and the pre-shipment testing are written against it. A limit that first appears at the destination port is a specification that was never agreed, and cannot be the basis of a quality claim.
Making a claim
Examine the goods promptly on arrival. The buyer’s right to examine goods before acceptance is recognised by the Sale of Goods Act, 1930, and prompt examination is what makes a claim assessable at all: food commodities change in storage, and evidence degrades.
Deadlines
- Shortage, damage to packing, and visible condition: notify us within 7 days of discharge, and note the exception on the delivery receipt or make the claim against the carrier at the same time.
- Quality not conforming to specification: notify us within 14 days of discharge, or within 7 days of a laboratory result where the parameter requires testing, whichever is later, and in any event within 30 days of discharge.
- Latent defects not discoverable on reasonable examination: as soon as discovered, and within the shelf life stated on the certificate of analysis.
Do not sell, blend, process or dispose of the goods claimed against until the claim is resolved, and keep them stored in the condition required by the specification. Goods that have been processed or disposed of cannot be inspected, and a claim on them cannot be assessed.
What a claim needs to include
- the invoice, contract and lot numbers, and the container and seal numbers;
- the quantity affected, and where the goods are held;
- dated photographs of the goods, the packing, the marks and the container interior;
- an analysis from an accredited independent laboratory, stating the method used and matching the method named in the specification;
- the sampling record: who drew the samples, when, from how many units, and by what plan;
- for condition claims, a survey report from an independent marine surveyor, and the temperature and storage record since discharge.
How we resolve it
We acknowledge claims within two business days and aim to reach a position within ten business days of receiving complete evidence. We will test our retained sample against the same parameter and method. Where the two results conflict materially, either party may call for analysis by a mutually agreed independent laboratory, whose result is binding, with the cost borne by the party whose result it does not support.
Where a claim is accepted, the remedy is at our election, in consultation with the buyer, and will be one of: a price allowance on the affected quantity; replacement on the next shipment; a credit note; or return of the affected goods for refund, where return is practical and the cost is proportionate. Our liability is limited to the invoice value of the affected goods, as set out in our Terms of Sale.
Claims do not entitle the buyer to withhold payment on other shipments or on the undisputed part of the same shipment.
Damage in transit
Where risk had passed to the buyer under the agreed Incoterms rule, loss or damage occurring in transit is a matter for the cargo insurer and the carrier, not a quality claim against us. Notify the carrier within the time limit in the bill of lading, which is short, and open a file with the insurer immediately. We will supply the loading records, packing list, stuffing photographs and certificates the surveyor needs.
Contact
Claims and quality correspondence should go to sales@orionglobalexports.com, marked with the invoice and container numbers, or by post to the address shown on our Contact page.