SGS Inspection Cost: Cargo Inspection Fees Explained

Ask a seller what the inspection of a cargo costs and you will hear "it's SGS, it's standard". Ask the inspection company for its rates and you will get a quotation. Between the two, no public price: you will not find a general commercial rate card on the websites of the big names in the trade, SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek or Cotecna.

Public price books do exist, however. Three inspection companies had their 2019 schedules for the Americas placed in the public docket of a fuel quality rule of the US Environmental Protection Agency: Bureau Veritas (the former Inspectorate, renamed in October 2018), AmSpec and Camin Cargo Control. These schedules date from 2019 and apply to the Americas, not to Dakar or Abidjan. They are list prices, which large clients negotiate. But they show, in black and white, how an inspection is billed. And that mechanism is the same everywhere.

What the inspector does for the price

According to these schedules, the basic inspection of a vessel covers:

• measuring the product in the shore tanks and in the ship's tanks, before and after the operation, with temperature and water;
• drawing the official samples, sealed and labelled;
• checking the ship's tanks before loading;
• calculating the quantity and issuing the report.

Laboratory analysis is not included. It is paid separately, test by test.

Fuel by ship: a rate per tonne and a minimum

2019 schedules for the Americas. A long ton is 1,016 kg. At Camin, the rate per metric tonne is 2% lower.

Three competitors, three almost identical grids. A second product on the same vessel adds a minimum of $3,373 at Bureau Veritas, $3,829 at AmSpec and $3,060 at Camin.

Take 30,000 tonnes of diesel at the Bureau Veritas rate: 30,000 times 0.564, or $16,920. On 2 October 2026, gasoil was quoted at $1,342.50 per tonne in Rotterdam: the cargo was worth a little over $40 million. Inspection therefore weighs about 0.04% of the goods.

On a small parcel, the minimum is what counts. On 5,000 tonnes, the per-tonne rate would give $2,820, but the invoice will be $5,444, more than one dollar per tonne. Conversely, Camin caps its fee at five times the minimum.

Barges, trucks, tanks

• Barge: minimum of $2,488 at Bureau Veritas for diesel or gasoline, $2,343 at AmSpec, $2,400 at Camin.
• Tank truck or rail car: $510 per unit at Bureau Veritas, with a minimum of $1,578. At AmSpec, gauging and sampling cost $315 to $441 per unit.
• Tank to tank or pipeline transfer: $2,125 for the first two tanks at Bureau Veritas, $790 per additional tank.
• Cleanliness inspection: $2,257 per shore tank, $963 per ship tank with a minimum of $2,574.
• Bunker survey: $2,428 together with the cargo inspection, $2,913 on its own.

The laboratory: the other half of the bill

Every test has its price. At Bureau Veritas, in 2019:

For a gasoline, each octane number, research and motor, costs $749.

Camin also sells test packages. Its basic slate for a low sulphur diesel, a dozen tests, is listed at $3,675. The slates required by the large US pipelines run from $5,815 to $6,565. For gasoline, from $6,710 to $12,980. A basic kerosene: $2,055. An aviation kerosene to the requirements of a large pipeline: $8,610.

A full analysis therefore costs about as much as the minimum for a quantity inspection. This is what the seller leaves out when he says "inspection is $5,000". To know which tests to ask for, see our article on 50 ppm diesel.

The surcharges: where the invoice grows

The rate per tonne is the figure you are given. Here are the ones you are not given, all taken from the same schedules.

• Time. The Bureau Veritas fee covers eight hours. Beyond that, $291 per hour per inspector. AmSpec charges $385 per hour after twelve hours on a ship. Constant attendance by an inspector costs $5,100 per day at AmSpec, $290 per hour at Camin.
• Waiting. When the vessel or the terminal is not ready, standby is billed at the hourly rate: $291 for an inspector, $581 for a supervisor at Bureau Veritas.
• Public holidays. $1,000 to $1,189 more per inspector, depending on the company.
• Ship to ship transfer. $1,866 to $2,688 per day per person on top of the inspection, depending on whether the operation takes place alongside, in harbour or offshore. The launch is rebilled at cost plus 15 to 20%.
• Hazardous products. A 55% surcharge at Bureau Veritas, 50% at Camin.
• Samples. Beyond those included in the fee, $45 to $264 each. Retained samples are kept 30 days at Camin, 60 days at Bureau Veritas. After that, $560 and $1,333 per month.
• Seals. $20 to $30 each, with a minimum of $240 to $400.
• Shipping samples. $504 to $1,959 per shipment at Bureau Veritas.
• Travel. Where the company has no resident inspector, mileage, travel time, hotel and meals are added, at cost plus 15 to 18%.
• Laboratory out of hours. $340 per hour, four hours minimum, at night and at weekends at Bureau Veritas.

Ship to ship transfer and waiting happen to be the two most common situations on the West African coast, as we explain in fuel cargo hidden costs: demurrage and pumping.

Grain, rice, sugar, containers

For agricultural products and for minerals, the Bureau Veritas schedule comes down to one line: rates on request. Camin publishes its own.

Minimum per ship: $3,500. For 25,000 tonnes of bagged rice, that comes to about $27,500.

For containers, supervision of stuffing or stripping is $200 per container, with a minimum of $1,600 per eight-hour shift. Ten containers of cashew nuts or sesame supervised at stuffing: $2,000. A draft survey, to establish the weight loaded: $2,900 for two calls within 48 hours. A general cargo survey: $350 per hour by day, $500 at night, $660 on Sundays.

Who pays for the inspection?

In oil, half each. BP's general terms for the Americas, 2020 edition, say it in one sentence: the parties jointly agree on an independent inspector, and "all costs associated with a Measurement shall be shared equally between the Parties". Camin builds this into its schedule: no party is billed less than 25% of the total.

In grain, each side pays its own. Sampling Rules No. 124 of Gafta, the grain and feed trade association, provide that seller and buyer each appoint a superintendent from the approved register. If one party is not represented, the other calls in a superintendent to act in its place, and the extra expenses are borne by the defaulting party. If the parties cannot agree on a laboratory, Gafta appoints one against a fee of 150 pounds sterling from each.

In every case, what matters is what your contract says. If it says nothing, you will discover the rule on the day of the invoice.

Not to be confused: verifications imposed by governments

Some countries impose their own control, entrusted to these same companies. This is not a commercial inspection and the price has nothing in common: it is a percentage of the value.

Côte d'Ivoire. Since 1 July 2019, goods covered by the verification of conformity programme must travel with a certificate. The fee structure is public and identical at SGS and Bureau Veritas: 0.45% of the FOB value under route A, 0.40% under route B, 0.30% under route C. The minimum ranges from 167,450 to 197,000 CFA francs (255 to 300 euros), the maximum from 2,281,400 to 2,684,000 CFA francs (3,478 to 4,092 euros). The exporter pays. Testing, registration (275 euros), re-inspections and container sealing come on top.

Mali. For the import verification programme, run by BIVAC, a Bureau Veritas subsidiary, the official trade portal requires the importer to provide a certified cheque for 0.75% of the value of the goods.

A supplier who bills you for "the SGS inspection" without saying which one may mean either. Ask.

What the certificate does not guarantee

This is the least known point, and it is written in each company's general conditions.

• SGS: the company "is neither an insurer nor a guarantor". Its liability cannot exceed ten times the fees paid for the service in question, or $20,000, whichever is the lesser.
• Bureau Veritas (2019 schedule): ten times the amount of the fee. The limit may be raised on a request made before the service, against additional fees.
• Camin: ten times the fee or $10,000, whichever is less.
• AmSpec: the amount paid by the customer.

Back to our 30,000-tonne vessel. The cargo is worth $40 million. If the inspector gets it wrong, the cap under SGS's conditions is at most $20,000, except in cases of wilful misconduct or gross negligence. An inspection certificate is evidence, not insurance.

Another clause worth knowing: when the analysis is carried out by the terminal's or the refinery's laboratory and the inspector merely witnesses it, Bureau Veritas and Camin state that they pass on the result without responsibility for its accuracy.

How to get a clear quotation

Ask two or three companies, in writing and for the same operation:

• the rate per tonne and the minimum;
• what the fee includes: how many hours, how many tanks, how many samples;
• the hourly rate beyond that, and the standby rate;
• night, weekend and public holiday surcharges;
• travel costs if the inspector is not based at the port;
• the list of tests, method by method, with the price of each or of the full package;
• who performs the analysis: their laboratory, or the terminal's under their eyes;
• how long retained samples are kept;
• the liability cap, and the price for raising it.

Then write into the sales contract the name of the inspector or the list from which he will be chosen, who pays him, and where quantity and quality are final: at loading or on arrival. If you pay by letter of credit, the inspection certificate will be among the documents the bank requires, as we explain in our article on payment terms.

Our reading

The fog does not come from the rate per tonne. Every professional knows it, and it is tiny: four ten-thousandths of the value of a diesel cargo. The fog comes from three things nobody looks at: the surcharges, the laboratory, and the liability cap.

Inspection is the cheapest line of a cargo, and it is the one people try to save on. They accept the seller's inspector, settle for the depot's laboratory, drop the expensive tests. That is exactly what the seller of adulterated diesel is hoping for.

We believe an African buyer has no reason to simply put up with these rates. He can ask for three quotations on the same scope, demand the detail, appoint his own inspector when the stakes justify it, and insure his goods for the rest. None of these steps requires capital. They require asking the questions before signing.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an SGS inspection cost?

SGS does not publish a commercial rate card: the price is given by quotation. The public schedules of three competitors give the order of magnitude for a fuel cargo: $0.53 to $0.61 per metric tonne, with a minimum of $5,100 to $5,668, laboratory tests extra. For government-mandated programmes, SGS does display its fees: in Côte d'Ivoire, 0.30 to 0.45% of the FOB value.

Who pays the inspection fee, buyer or seller?

Whoever the contract names. In oil, the custom is a jointly appointed inspector and costs shared equally. In grain, each party appoints and pays its own superintendent.

How much does a diesel analysis cost?

In the 2019 Bureau Veritas schedule, $131 to $1,367 per test. A basic package of a dozen tests was listed at $3,675 by Camin Cargo Control.

What is the difference between a commercial inspection and a pre-shipment inspection?

A commercial inspection is requested by buyer and seller to establish quantity and quality, and is paid per tonne or as a flat fee. A pre-shipment inspection, or verification of conformity, is imposed by the government of the importing country and is paid as a percentage of the value.

Does an inspection certificate guarantee the goods?

No. Inspection companies state that they are neither insurer nor guarantor, and cap their liability, generally at ten times their fees. Protection against loss is bought from an insurer.

What we do

GraceRoad buys fuel from companies that own their depots in Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Togo and Senegal, and from international traders for full cargoes. For a cargo as for a parcel of commodities, we prepare the inspection with you before signing: which inspector, which tests, who pays, where quantity and quality are final.

Read next: fuel cargo hidden costs: demurrage and pumping and sourcing from Africa: three worked cases.

Sources: public docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0227 of the US Environmental Protection Agency (regulations.gov), which contains three 2019 schedules for the Americas: Bureau Veritas Oil & Petrochemicals, "2019 Schedule of Rates for the Americas", effective 1 January 2019, with its general conditions (rates per tonne, minimums, laboratory, notes 3 to 26, conditions 12, 13 and 22); AmSpec, "2019 Price Schedule, The Americas", version 1.7 (rates per ton, additional hours, ship to ship transfers, limitation of liability); Camin Cargo Control, "Scope of Services & Schedule of Rates 2019" (petroleum, agricultural products, containers, test slates, ancillary fees, terms and conditions); BP, "Global Oil Americas Marine Provisions", 2020 edition, version 1.1, section 2.1.1 (measurement costs shared equally); Gafta, "Sampling Rules No. 124", 2025 edition, rules 3.3, 4.2 and 10.2; SGS, "General Conditions of Service", clauses 9.1, 9.3 and 9.4; Bureau Veritas, Côte d'Ivoire verification of conformity programme datasheet, revision 11.2, and SGS, brochure for the same programme, November 2022 (fee structure for routes A, B and C, items not included); Mali Trade Portal, import procedure, consulted on 2 October 2026 (certified cheque of 0.75%); Avenergy Suisse, gasoil FOB Rotterdam quotation of 2 October 2026.