A sourcing agent in India for importers covers everything that happens in India before the container is sealed. You, your customs broker and your freight forwarder keep everything from the port of loading onward, plus the commercial decisions.
Importers often get into trouble because nobody wrote down who owns each step. Use this guide to draw that line before you hire.
What belongs to the agent
These tasks sit on the Indian side, where you cannot easily act yourself:
- Finding manufacturers and checking they are manufacturers, not traders. See how to tell a trader from a manufacturer.
- Auditing the plant and reporting what the audit found.
- Collecting sealed samples and having them tested.
- Following production against the agreed date.
- Inspecting the finished lot and supervising loading.
- Checking the export documents against the contract.
What stays with you
Some decisions should never be delegated, however good the agent. Keep these yourself:
- The final choice of supplier.
- Signing the purchase contract with the factory, so the legal relationship is yours.
- Payment to the factory.
- Import licences, product-safety registrations and labelling duties in your own country.
- Selecting your customs broker and agreeing the shipping terms. See FOB, CIF or DAP.
Regulation differs by country and changes over time. Your customs broker or national regulator is the authority on what your product needs to enter. An agent can help gather the documents, but it cannot take on your legal duties as importer.
The handover points to write down
Between agent and importer there are four moments when responsibility passes. Put each in the contract:
- Shortlist handover: the agent gives you the list, and you pick which factories to audit.
- Sample approval: you approve one sample as the standard every lot is checked against.
- Release for shipment: the agent submits the inspection report and you release the goods.
- Document handover: the agent sends the checked pack to you and your broker before the vessel arrives.
Questions an importer should ask
- Which documents will my broker receive from you, and when? See the document pack your broker will ask for.
- If a container is short or off-spec, what evidence do you hold to support my claim?
- Who retains the counter-samples, and for how long?
- Will you attend loading yourselves, or send someone else? See attending factory loading.
A worked example
An importer in Europe orders a container of a packed product. The agent audits two factories and the importer picks one. Samples are tested and the importer approves the lab-passed sample. The importer signs the contract and pays the factory's advance directly.
At the end of production, the agent inspects the lot and sends a report. The importer releases the goods. The agent supervises loading and sends the document pack to the broker. When the container arrives, any difference is checked against the counter-sample and loading photos. Every step has an owner, and nothing is left to assumption.
Keeping the broker in the loop
Your customs broker is the person who will face questions at your border, so introduce the broker to the agent early. Ask the broker which documents and certificates your product needs and have the agent confirm, before production, that the factory can supply each one in the form required.
Documents that are wrong at dispatch are hard to fix once the container has sailed. A short call between agent and broker before the order is placed is cheap insurance.
Where disputes usually start
Most importer disputes begin at a handover that nobody wrote down. The goods shipped before the importer released them. The sample was approved verbally, then the factory changed the material. The agent's inspection covered quantity but not the packing the importer's warehouse needed.
Avoid these by giving the agent a written specification that includes packing, marking and test methods, and by asking for the inspection checklist before the inspection, not after. If something goes wrong, the specification and the sealed counter-sample are what settle it. Read why quality drops after the first container for the usual causes.
Next step
For importers we handle the India side as the services page sets out: discovery, audits, testing, negotiation, order follow-up, pre-shipment checks and documents. We are paid one written fee agreed in advance and take nothing from factories. Start with the sourcing review, or see what we can source.