What to Expect from a Pre-Shipment Inspection in Nepal

When you import handmade goods from Nepal, a pre-shipment inspection (PSI) is your last line of defence before the container ships. Unlike factory audits or mid-production checks, a PSI examines finished, packed product that is ready to leave the factory. It is the inspection that matters most because it directly decides whether your order arrives as agreed.

At Nepal Trade Solutions, we perform PSI for buyers importing carpets, pashmina, felt products, handicrafts, garments, and metal crafts from Nepali manufacturers. Every inspection follows the ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 AQL standard — the same sampling methodology used by SGS, Bureau Veritas, and QIMA globally.

You should book a PSI when your production reaches approximately 80% completion and packing has begun. This timing ensures enough finished goods exist for a statistically valid sample while leaving room for corrective action if defects are found. Booking too early means insufficient product; too late means the container may depart before issues can be fixed.

During a PSI, our inspectors verify quantity against your purchase order, inspect every sample unit for visual defects (major, minor, and critical), measure dimensions, weight, and knot count for carpets, check dye consistency and colour accuracy, review packaging strength and labelling, and capture 40–80 photographs and videos documenting all findings.

The AQL sampling plan determines how many units are inspected based on your total order size. For most consumer goods, we recommend AQL 2.5 — meaning up to 2.5% defective units are acceptable. For premium or high-value orders, AQL 1.5 provides a stricter threshold. Our inspectors apply the correct sampling size from the ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 tables automatically.

If your order fails the PSI, we provide a detailed report with photographs, defect codes, and specific corrective action recommendations. We coordinate with your supplier to address issues promptly. A re-inspection can be arranged at a reduced rate to verify that all problems have been resolved before shipment.

Your PSI report includes an executive summary with a Pass / Fail / Conditional result, a full defect breakdown by category and severity, measurement results compared against your specifications, packaging and labelling assessment, and the inspector's signed certification. Reports are delivered within 24 hours of the inspection visit.

Nepal's manufacturing landscape is unique. Production happens in small family workshops where seasonal rhythms, material availability, and skill levels vary. A PSI from a Nepal-based team like NTS catches the product-specific issues — uneven knot density in carpets, incorrect ply in pashmina, inconsistent dye lots in felt — that a generalist agency might miss.