Pre-Shipment Inspection in Turkey: What to Check Before Goods Leave the Factory

A pre-shipment inspection in Turkey is a check of finished goods at the supplier’s facility, carried out after production is complete (or nearly complete) and before the goods are shipped. Its purpose is simple: confirm that what is about to leave the factory matches what you ordered. Once goods are loaded and the balance is paid, your leverage to fix a problem drops sharply. This guide explains when to schedule an inspection, what it should cover and how to act on the results.

Why inspect before shipment?

Even good suppliers make mistakes: a colour batch drifts, a carton label is wrong, a component is substituted. Discovering this at your warehouse means return freight, delays and disputes across borders. Discovering it at the factory usually means rework or replacement before shipping. A pre-shipment inspection does not replace choosing the right supplier, which we cover in our guide on how to verify a Turkish supplier, but it is the final safeguard on every order.

When to schedule it

The inspection is usually done when at least most of the order is finished and packed, so that the inspector can draw samples from the actual shipment. Schedule it in your purchase contract, not as an afterthought: state that the balance payment is released only after a passed inspection, and agree how much notice the supplier must give when goods are ready. Combining this with the right payment structure is discussed in how to pay Turkish suppliers safely.

Sampling and AQL

Inspecting every unit is rarely practical. Most inspections use statistical sampling based on the ISO 2859-1 standard, commonly referred to by its AQL (Acceptance Quality Limit) levels. You agree in advance how many units will be checked for a given order size and how many defects of each type are acceptable. Defects are typically classified as:

• Critical: unsafe or in breach of regulations; usually zero tolerance.
• Major: likely to cause a return or make the product unfit for its purpose.
• Minor: small deviations that do not affect use but should still be limited.

The tolerance levels should be written into your purchase order, so that a pass or fail is a matter of fact rather than negotiation.

What a pre-shipment inspection should check

1. Quantity: number of finished units and cartons against the order.
2. Conformity to specification: materials, dimensions, colour, finish and components compared with your approved sample and product specification sheet.
3. Workmanship: visual defects, stitching, welds, scratches, assembly.
4. Function and on-site tests: simple tests appropriate to the product, such as fitting, operation, or a drop test for packed cartons.
5. Packing and labelling: inner and outer packaging, barcodes, carton marks, country-of-origin marks and any language requirements of the destination market.
6. Weights and measures: carton dimensions and gross weights, which affect freight costs and shipping documents.

Prepare the inspector

An inspection is only as good as the reference it is checked against. Give the inspector the purchase order, the specification sheet, the approved “golden sample” or its photographs, the labelling artwork and the agreed AQL levels. If certain defects matter more to your customers than others, say so explicitly.

Reading the report

A useful report records the quantity checked, the defects found by category with photographs, measurement results and a clear pass or fail against the agreed criteria. Read the photographs, not just the summary line. A “pass” with a pattern of minor defects may still be worth raising with the supplier before the next order.

What if the goods fail?

• Rework or sorting: the supplier corrects or removes defective units, followed by a re-inspection.
• Replacement: part of the order is remade.
• Accept with conditions: for minor issues, you may accept the goods with an agreed adjustment.
• Reject: for critical defects, shipping should not go ahead.

Who pays for a re-inspection, and what happens to the delivery date, should already be in the contract.

Inspection is the last step, not the only one

Problems found at pre-shipment stage are cheaper than problems found at destination, but they are still expensive. For larger or more complex orders, inspections during production catch issues earlier. The supplier audit before the first order and in-process checks during manufacturing complete the picture.

Working with MOPCONS

Under our Supply Chain Management service we carry out process checks during manufacturing and a final inspection before goods ship, checking the finished product and verifying packing. Our team is based in Ataşehir, İstanbul. Send us the product, estimated quantities, target price range and destination country: email info@mopcons.com, call +90 216 606 38 63 or message us on WhatsApp (+90 533 339 52 02), or use the contact form.