Certificate of analysis vs certificate of quality explained

A certificate of analysis is a laboratory's report of test results on one identified sample. A certificate of quality states that the goods meet a stated quality, and can come from an inspection company, a government body or the seller. Which of the two settles a dispute depends on the contract and on the sample behind it.

Certificate of analysis vs certificate of quality: the difference

The UN/EDIFACT code list for trade documents (directory D.23A) keeps them apart: a certificate of analysis provides the values of an analysis, a certificate of quality certifies the quality of the goods.

	Certificate of analysis	Certificate of quality
Issuer	A laboratory	Whoever the contract or credit names: for example an inspection company, a government body or the seller
What it states	Values measured in a sample, by a named method	That the goods have a stated quality

Who issues each document

Certificate of analysis. Unless otherwise agreed, GAFTA forms such as No. 100 (July 2026 edition) take analysts from the GAFTA Approved Register of Analysts. Listing requires, among other things, satisfactory GAFTA ring test results, conformance to the Gafta Standard for Analysis and Testing or ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation with the appropriate scope, and GAFTA 130 methods. GAFTA 124 has the superintendent name the analyst and the methods on the certificate. On FOSFA terms, the analysts clause makes member analysts mandatory unless the contract or national law requires government or other analysts. They must be independent of firms trading in FOSFA commodities.

Certificate of quality. GAFTA No. 100 offers the option of making an official certificate of inspection at loading final as to quality. RvA describes inspection and testing companies as checking goods against the applicable requirements and, if they comply, issuing a certificate or report as proof. A seller can also certify its own goods, which a letter of credit may accept (see below).

How laboratories and inspection bodies are accredited: ISO 17025 versus ISO 17020.

What a certificate of analysis proves, and what it does not

It proves the values the laboratory found in the sample it received, using the method it states. FOSFA's Member Analysts Scheme says an analysis certificate under its contracts should state analytical fact, not opinion; an opinion the analyst is asked for goes in a separate statement without the FOSFA seal. The Dutch accreditation council RvA adds that a test laboratory establishes properties and the client decides what the results mean.

On FOSFA terms the certificate itself is sealed: most FOSFA contracts require the FOSFA International official seal on the analysis certificate, fixed by the member analyst after the contractual analysis. Without the seal and an authorised signature, a certificate may be considered non-contractual. A certificate the contract requires from a government agency in the country of shipment carries no seal but counts as official in a dispute.

What it does not cover:

• The rest of the cargo. Whether the sample represents the lot depends on how it was drawn and handled, which is the superintendent's work.
• Conformity with the contract. Comparing a result with a contract limit is a separate step, and the contract decides whose certificate is final. If the customer asks a laboratory for a statement of conformity, ISO/IEC 17025:2017 requires the decision rule to be defined and reported (ILAC-G8, 2019).
• Competence for that test. RvA grants accreditation for a defined scope, and an accreditation tells you little without it. Check that the parameter and method on the certificate fall within it.

A certificate of analysis can cover more than the contract's quality specification; what is analysed besides is in edible oil refining.

Two common parameters for oils and fats: free fatty acid and iodine value.

Which sample the result belongs to

The contract fixes where the samples are drawn. GAFTA No. 100 takes them at discharge unless the parties agree that quality is final at loading. Where a certificate of a government or authority at the port of loading is final as to quality, GAFTA 124 makes that authority solely responsible for drawing the samples.

GAFTA 124 defines sealed samples as sealed jointly by buyers and sellers or their superintendents, with tamper-proof, identifiable seals, and requires their integrity to be guarded until they are used in the laboratory. For feedingstuffs (not feed grains or feed pulses), biomass, marine and animal products and malting barley, where contractual allowances apply, either party can call for a second analysis and, if the two differ by more than the rules allow, a third, each on another sealed sample.

How samples are drawn and sealed: sampling rules in agri trade.

How the certificates work under a letter of credit

Under a letter of credit banks examine the documents alone and take no responsibility for the quality of the goods; the general rules are in letter of credit and the inspection certificate.

The ICC's International Standard Banking Practice (ISBP 821, 2023) adds, for these certificates:

• Title. The certificate may carry the title used in the credit, a similar title or none, provided it is signed and certifies the result of the required analysis or assessment.
• Issuer. Who may issue the certificate is covered in letter of credit and the inspection certificate.
• Content. The certificate may state that only a sample was tested. Its data must not conflict with any analysis or quality requirement the credit sets.
• Date. A certificate of analysis may be dated after shipment. If the credit calls for a pre-shipment analysis, the certificate must show by its title, wording or date that it took place on or before shipment; with such wording it may be dated later, but not after presentation.

So a credit asking for a "certificate of quality" without naming an issuer can be met by the seller's own certificate. A buyer who wants the laboratory or superintendent from the sale contract must have the credit name it. The bank's side of this is covered in letter of credit and the inspection certificate.

What goes on a certificate of analysis: our template

Our free certificate of analysis template, an Excel file with a printable version, asks for:

1. Laboratory and certificate: name, address, accreditation (body, number, scope) if any, certificate number and date.
2. Sample identification: product, vessel, tank or lot, sample type, who sampled and when, seal numbers, date received and dates of analysis.
3. Results: per parameter the method as named in the contract, unit and result, with the statement that the results relate only to the sample as received.
4. Authorised signatory: name, function, signature and date.

Below the signature, a block marked "not part of the certificate" compares each result with the contract limits you enter, for your own use: a plain comparison, without measurement uncertainty. All example data, limits included, are fictitious. Operium Solutions is not a laboratory and does not issue certificates.

FOSS is software for inspection companies and the port, with a sector specialist at the table. Measurements are entered once, nine report types come from that input, and samples are tracked. To discuss your own certificates, contact us.