Pre-shipment Inspection (PSI) is a service provided by independent inspection companies to governments in Africa, Asia and Latin America since 1965.

Today some thirty countries worldwide take advantage of this service. PSI is a physical inspection of goods, requested by the government of the importing country, prior to shipment.

Since 1984, Cotecna has been offering its PSI services in five continents. The activities of PSI are governed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) ‘Agreement on Preshipment Inspection’

Cotecna’s PSI services cover:

• verifying the quality and quantity of imports;
• verifying the accuracy of tariff codes classification;
• assisting Customs with collecting the correct amount of duties & taxes;
• providing Customs with an independent opinion of the dutiable value for customs purposes;
• computing the correct duties and taxes payable;
• providing Customs with an up-to-date price database; and
• providing government with reliable and up-to-date statistics related to trade and customs revenue.

Overall, PSI helps to:

• detect over-invoicing to prevent unjustified transfer of foreign exchange abroad;
• determine the classification and valuation of goods; and
• ensure the correct collection of import duties and taxes by Customs authorities.

In addition to combating capital flight and collecting extra fiscal income, governments aim to improve customs procedures as well as to protect national industry.

Read about Cotecna’s current government contracts and about Destination Inspection.