A chemical quality agreement is a written document, separate from the purchase contract, that sets how the manufacturer will keep the product to specification over time. It covers the specification, test methods, sampling, change control, documentation and what happens when something goes wrong.
There is no single template that fits every product, and a quality agreement template should be adapted by someone who knows your market. This is a checklist of the clauses that matter, not legal advice. Have a lawyer review the final text.
What should the specification section say?
Attach the specification as a schedule. It should list each parameter, the limit, the test method and the basis, such as as-shipped or dry basis. Include the grade, appearance, assay or active content, moisture, key impurities and any regulatory limits for your market.
Say how the certificate of analysis is produced and what it must show: batch number, date, results against each limit and an authorised signature. Our guide to the certificate of analysis lists the fields.
What clauses control change?
Most quality drift happens when something changes quietly. Require written notice, with enough lead time to test, before any change in:
- Raw material source or grade.
- Process, equipment or manufacturing site.
- Packaging material, labelling or pack size.
- Subcontractors, toll manufacturers or repackers.
Give yourself the right to approve changes that could affect the product, and to test pre-change samples. For a first order, a short version is realistic: many Indian manufacturers will sign a one- or two-page agreement covering the specification, change notice and retention samples, and will resist a long document. Start with the clauses that protect you most and add detail as the relationship grows. This is the best protection against the pattern in why quality drops after the first container.
What about sampling, retention and audits?
Set out how samples are drawn, how many, who witnesses, and which lab is the referee if results differ. Require the supplier to keep a retention sample of every batch for a stated period. See retention samples.
Reserve the right to audit the plant, with notice, and to have an independent party inspect loading. The audit scope can follow what a factory audit should contain.
How should claims and non-conformances be handled?
Specify the time limit for raising a claim after arrival, the evidence needed, how disputed results are resolved and the remedy, whether replacement, credit or return. Add duties to investigate the cause, report corrective action and handle complaints in writing. Keep the claims procedure consistent with the terms in your purchase contract, and see handling a chemical quality claim.
Also cover regulatory support: supplying current safety data sheets, informing you of changes in classification and supporting any registration your market requires. Confidentiality and traceability clauses complete the agreement. Finally, name who at each company owns the agreement, review it once a year, and attach every signed change as an addendum so the file always shows the current terms.
How we help
We help you turn your specification into terms a factory will sign, and we check afterwards that the factory keeps to them. To start, book a free sourcing review.