Garment pre-shipment inspection checklist

Define what shipment approval actually covers

Give the inspector the approved garment, size-chart revision, illustrated measurement points, colour references, label artwork and packing instructions. Identify the style, fabric, sizes, colours and production quantities presented. This is a proposed buyer checklist: its tolerances and release rules must be agreed for your order.

Use separate decisions for visual workmanship, dimensions, shade matching, labels, packing and laboratory evidence. An acceptable defect count should not override a failed measurement or missing compliance evidence. Write the requirements into your product specification before inspection.

Use the production location to ask better questions

For a sweater order, ask which yarn and production batches supplied each colour, then prioritise body and sleeve measurements, knit holes and the agreed seam construction.

In Shaoxing, Zhejiang's government portal identifies the Keqiao textile industry and China Light Textile City market. If your garment factory buys fabric through this market, request the fabric supplier and dye-lot references; a market swatch should not replace the approved bulk-fabric reference.

Zhili town in Huzhou's Wuxing district is identified by Zhejiang's government portal as a children's-wear manufacturing cluster. For orders placed there, map the actual sizes and trims presented rather than approving a shipment from one showroom sample. These locations inform inspection questions; they do not establish that a particular factory meets your specification.

Agree sampling without hiding size or colour gaps

Agree the sampling method with your inspector. Name any agreed standard and edition, lot definition, inspection level, sampling plan and acceptance criteria in the instruction. Do not copy a sample size or default AQL from another clothing order.

Ask the inspector to select garments across identified cartons and record coverage by size, colour and production or shade lot. Agree dimensional sampling separately and identify any combinations not measured. Our AQL sampling guide explains the acceptance decision; the garment report must also show what the sample actually represented.

Garment checks to put in the inspection instruction

Use the following checks against approved references. KAFTI's garment inspection guidance identifies broken and skipped stitches, puckering, symmetry and knit needle holes; SGS includes measurements, labels and packaging in final inspection. The evidence and hold rules below are buyer instructions, not universal statutory tolerances.

Resolve fit requirements through size-set approval before cutting. Agree colour references and batch traceability through controlling garment shade variation.

Separate UK fibre rules from care-label expectations

For sales in England, Scotland and Wales, GOV.UK and Trading Standards guidance require fibre-content labelling, including separate information for components with different fibre contents. The Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Composition) Regulations 2012 provide the UK enforcement framework. The current revised text on the UK legislation website remains in force; its Schedule 2 covers permitted fibre names and composition labelling. Apply the UK assimilated rules rather than presenting current EU legislation as automatically applicable throughout the UK.

Trading Standards guidance says the label must be in English, durable, easily legible, visible and accessible. Where non-textile animal parts are used, verify the required declaration. Ask for evidence supporting the stated composition; checking printed artwork alone does not establish what the garment contains.

Anglesey Council's Trading Standards guidance distinguishes mandatory fibre labels from generally voluntary care labels. It says manufacturers usually provide care labels and identifies BS EN ISO 3758 for care symbols. Make your approved washing, drying and ironing instructions a purchase requirement and check the attached label against them.

For specified laboratory work, agree laundering and rubbing colour-fastness tests with the laboratory, including dry and wet rubbing where required. Agree the method variant and required result rather than inventing a universal garment pass grade. Use garment wash-performance approval to establish the evidence before release. This section addresses Great Britain; obtain destination-specific instructions for Northern Ireland.

Check the customs description against the inspected goods

The example below is for ordinary adult cotton knitted T-shirts imported from China into Great Britain. The UK Trade Tariff API identifies code 6109100010 under cotton knitted or crocheted T-shirts and shows 12% third-country duty and 20% standard VAT. Confirm any applicable anti-dumping measures before declaration; this example does not establish their absence.

Hypothetical consignment: goods value £10,000; freight and insurance to the UK border £1,000; additional transport to the first UK destination £200. Assume no other customs-value adjustments, incidental expenses, reliefs or special procedures. Customs value = £11,000. Duty = £11,000 × 12% = £1,320. Import VAT value = £11,000 + £1,320 + £200 = £12,520. Import VAT = £12,520 × 20% = £2,504. Duty plus import VAT = £3,824.

HMRC requires customs duty and relevant incidental expenses to be included in the import VAT value. The £200 is added once because it is outside the assumed customs value. These are hypothetical amounts, not garment prices or freight quotations. Do not apply this code to every garment or this adult VAT example to children's clothing. Before declaration, reconcile the actual garment construction and composition with the customs description.

Classify defects and issue a usable release report

Agree illustrated critical, major and minor defect examples before inspection. A proposed garment classification is: critical for a retained needle fragment or unresolved legal non-compliance; major for an open seam or severe shade mismatch; minor for an isolated loose thread that does not affect the seam. KAFTI uses these categories, but your contract should resolve borderline cases and specify immediate shipment holds for safety or compliance findings.

Require a report showing carton selection, size-and-colour coverage, individual measurements, defect counts and photographs, label images, packing reconciliation and outstanding tests. End each inspection area with pass, fail or incomplete. Record the buyer's release decision separately.

After rework, identify the affected batch and repeat the relevant checks; replacement photographs alone should not close a failed inspection. Use our factory verification service to discuss the factory checks and inspection brief needed for your garment order.