FOSFA e-Seal for Certificates of Analysis

• International Trade

The Federation of Oilseeds, Seeds and Fats Trade Associations (FOSFA) has made it easier to obtain FOSFA International official seal, without which a laboratory or survey company certificate may be recognized as null and void.

As we mentioned earlier, certificates of quality/analysis issued by FOSFA accredited laboratories or survey companies should bear official seal of FOSFA International.

FOSFA Seal certifies that the analysis whereto it relates was performed by an accredited FOSFA Analyst in accordance with FOSFA Standard Methods of Analysis.

As for certificates in paper form, everything was clear, they were actively used, namely, attached to Certificate of Analysis (CoA) by member analysts after analysis of the goods had been completed.

However, for a long time, traders had a question concerning e-certificates, since this issue was not regulated by FOSFA. Although there were no fixed procedures for use of e-Certificates, there was also no prohibition to use them.

However, recently FOSFA has indicated an option to use a new electronic seal (e-Seal). Such e-Seal will contain the Analyst membership number, the FOSFA International logo and the year of membership. Color of e-Seal will change with each year of release. The new e-Seal will be attached in the form of soft copy to Certificate of Analysis and will also allow analysts to issue e-Certificates easily.

It should be noted that most FOSFA contracts contain the following phrase: “Certificate(s) of Analysis should bear FOSFA official seal”. That is, in case of a dispute regarding quality of the goods, a certificate that does not contain FOSFA International official seal is likely to be recognized as null and void.

As we can see, FOSFA has implemented procedure for using e-Seal that will allow traders to exchange e-certificates, which in turn simplifies the procedure for obtaining certificates of analysis/quality and provides an option to save time.

It should be noted that FOSFA plans to completely switch to e-Seal in the nearest future. The seal on hard copies of certificates will be valid for a specific indefinite period.

Thus, we recommend traders to pay attention to the fact that paper and electronic quality/analytical certificates contain the official FOSFA seal, in order to avoid controversial situations. And in case of such situations, please contact Interlegal lawyers.