Place of loading: QA Risk if not managed

The consolidation or loading of food products into the sea freight containers doesn’t always happen at the place the product was processed. If a production plant or warehouse isn’t approved by customs in Argentina they will need to ship the product by truck to a customs approved warehouse, where consolidation can take place. This may be warehouses at the port, or warehouses in strategic locations throughout the country.

These warehouses are often not included in the quality control or supplier approval process and they can be high risk points in the supply chain. Some of these warehouses have very poor pest control and product can be stored in warehouses that aren’t fully closed in (see pictures below).

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This leads to problems such as humidity damage, bird droppings (mainly pigeon) and rodent damage and excreta.

Make sure you’re aware of the loading location and insist that loading takes place under proper conditions, and that any product stored prior to loading is stored in a well‐managed warehouse like the one below that we often use for our shipments.

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