Key takeaways
- The two are close on our rubric (15 and 14 of 18). Both book online and state fast reports. QIMA gains on its published starting price; SGS gains on its Indian accreditation scope.
- SGS is a much larger group (over 100,000 people in 115 countries) with an Indian company dating from 1950 and a softlines lab in Chennai.
- Neither publishes an India-specific man-day price. SGS India holds ISO/IEC 17020 accreditation on India's NABCB register (IB 003), with a consumer goods scope covering textiles and garments, leather goods, and furniture, gift articles and handicrafts; QIMA states ISO/IEC 17020 for its Shenzhen entity.
- SGS's score was revised from 9 to 13 on 14 Oct 2026, after we re-checked its own site and found an accreditation statement and a report time our first version missed, and to 14 on 15 Oct 2026, after we re-checked its NABCB scope.
- The score gap reflects what each website publishes, not the quality of the inspectors. Test either with a sample report in your product category.
QIMA vs SGS at a glance
Disclosure: Clear To Load is an inspection company and competes with the companies on this page. Every statement about QIMA and SGS comes from their own websites or India's NABCB register, checked on 14 Oct 2026 and listed under Sources. If anything here is out of date, email hello@cleartoload.com and we will correct it.
| Criterion | QIMA | SGS |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Founded in Hong Kong in 2005 (as AsiaInspection). Over 100 countries, 90 offices and labs, more than 6,000 employees | More than 145 years old. Over 2,500 labs and business facilities in 115 countries, over 100,000 people |
| India | India quality control page; says it has done over 10,000 inspections in India; testing lab in Tiruppur | SGS India founded in 1950, head office in Mumbai; softlines lab in Chennai (textiles, footwear, leather) |
| Inspection types | Initial production check, during production, pre-shipment, container loading check, production monitoring | Initial production check, during production, final random inspection, loading and unloading supervision |
| Booking | Self-serve through myQIMA (web or app); inspector on site within 48 hours; orders can be changed or cancelled until 1:00 pm CST (China Standard Time, 5:00 am GMT) the day before (India page) | SGS Online Booking (OLB) tool, linked from its India product inspection page |
| Report | Same day as the inspection | The global furniture inspection page says written reports are issued immediately on completion; the India product inspection page gives no turnaround |
| Price | From US$419 per man-day, travel, meals, accommodation and overtime included. India is in its Zone A; no India price shown | Not published |
| Inspection accreditation | ISO/IEC 17020:2012 (CNAS) for QIMA Inspection (Shenzhen) Ltd | ISO/IEC 17020 stated for inspection services in the Gulf (Kuwait), SGS news, July 2024. On India's NABCB register: SGS India, IB 003, valid to 23 Dec 2028, consumer goods scope covering textiles and garments, leather goods, and furniture, gift articles and handicrafts |
| Lab accreditation in India | ISO/IEC 17025 (NABL) for QIMA Quality Inspection India Pvt Ltd | ISO/IEC 17025 (NABL) listed for the Chennai softlines lab (SGS news, March 2024) |
Scores on the published rubric
We score every inspection company on the same six-point rubric used in our list of quality inspection companies in India. Each criterion scores 0 to 3, for a maximum of 18. The scores below match that list; we re-checked both websites on 14 Oct 2026 and revised the scores that day, and re-checked SGS India's NABCB scope on 15 Oct 2026.
| Criterion | QIMA | SGS | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accreditation | 2 | 3 | QIMA states ISO/IEC 17020 for its Shenzhen entity, not an Indian one. SGS India is accredited by NABCB with a scope covering textiles and garments, leather goods, and furniture, gift articles and handicrafts: general consumer goods |
| India presence | 2 | 2 | Both have Indian companies and labs; neither names the Indian production cities its inspectors cover |
| Price transparency | 2 | 0 | QIMA publishes a "from" price; SGS publishes none |
| Booking | 3 | 3 | Both offer online booking tools |
| Report speed | 3 | 3 | QIMA states same-day reports; SGS's furniture inspection page says written reports are issued immediately on completion |
| Reach | 3 | 3 | Both work in more than 40 countries |
| Total | 15 | 14 |
Updated 14 Oct 2026: on re-checking SGS's own site, we raised SGS from 9 to 13, for its ISO/IEC 17020 statement (Kuwait) and its furniture page's report time, which our first version missed. The same day we began counting India's NABCB register for accreditation.
Updated 15 Oct 2026: on re-checking SGS India's NABCB entry (IB 003), its scope covers stage and final inspection of textiles and garments, leather goods, and furniture, gift articles and handicrafts, not only garments and home textiles as our earlier version said. SGS now scores 3 for accreditation and 14 in total. QIMA leads on price transparency; SGS leads on accreditation. SGS's India product inspection page still gives no turnaround, so ask SGS for its report time for your factory's location.
The rubric scores what a buyer can verify before booking. It does not score inspector skill, product knowledge or report quality.
Where QIMA is the stronger choice
- You want to book and pay without a quote. myQIMA is self-serve, and QIMA states an inspector is on site within 48 hours, depending on the service and factory location. Orders can be changed or cancelled until 1:00 pm CST the day before, which helps when Indian factories slip on ready dates.
- You want a same-day report stated for every inspection. QIMA promises same-day reports as standard. SGS states immediate reports on its furniture page, not on its India product inspection page. That matters when a container is booked for the next morning.
- You budget from a published number. QIMA's starting rate of US$419 per man-day includes travel and accommodation, so you have a ceiling to plan around before you ask for a quote.
- You import textiles or toys and want testing close by. QIMA runs a lab in Tiruppur and lists ISO 17025 labs in India for textiles and toys. See inspections in Tiruppur.
- You need social or security audits too. QIMA's India page lists ethical, environmental, structural and C-TPAT audits as well as manufacturing audits.
Where SGS is the stronger choice
- Your retailer or brand names SGS. Some retailers name the inspection provider in their vendor manual. If yours names SGS, the decision is made, and reports go into a format your customer already knows.
- You need more than inspection from one group. SGS offers testing, inspection and certification across 115 countries, so management-system certification, product testing and inspection can sit under one supplier relationship.
- You want stated inspector qualifications. SGS says all its consumer goods quality assurance specialists are science or technology graduates, more than half have over five years of SGS inspection experience, and all complete integrity training every year.
- You want a long-established Indian entity. SGS India was founded in 1950 and is based in Mumbai. Its Chennai softlines lab tests textiles, home textiles, leather and footwear.
- You want the sampling method stated up front. SGS's final random inspection page says it samples to ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 (ISO 2859-1) when all goods are produced and at least 80% are packed. See AQL sampling explained.
Choose QIMA if, choose SGS if
Choose QIMA if you are a small or mid-sized importer who books inspections yourself, wants a published price to budget against and changes allowed until 1:00 pm CST the day before, or sources from several Asian countries and wants one portal. It also fits textile and toy buyers who want inspection and testing near Tiruppur.
Choose SGS if your customer's vendor manual names SGS, you need certification and testing alongside inspection, or you run a programme large enough to agree terms with an account manager rather than book at a list price. On our rubric SGS scores 14, level with Bureau Veritas; both hold Indian accreditation covering general consumer goods. If your contract requires an accredited body, ask SGS to inspect under its NABCB certificate and confirm the scope names your product.
For factories in India, ask either company:
- Which legal entity will perform the inspection, and does any accreditation cover it?
- Where is the nearest inspector based for your factory's city, and is travel included? Clusters such as Moradabad, Jodhpur or Panipat are far from metro offices.
- What is the report time for that location, and what does a reinspection cost?
- Can you see a sample report for your product category?
Our guide to choosing an inspection company lists more questions, and the global vs specialist guide explains when a large group is the right choice.
How this comparison was made
We read QIMA's and SGS's own pages on 14 Oct 2026: company facts, product inspection services, India pages, accreditations and pricing. We used no third-party reviews. Each fact is linked under Sources. We re-check every cell each quarter; the scores were last revised on 15 Oct 2026, after re-checking SGS India's NABCB scope.
Clear To Load, which publishes this page, is one India-only option: an inspection company based in Jodhpur, not yet accredited (ISO/IEC 17020 accreditation is in progress) and without its own lab. It scores 10 of 18 on the same rubric. See Clear To Load vs QIMA and Clear To Load vs SGS.
Sources
- QIMA: About (checked 14 Oct 2026)
- QIMA: Product inspections (checked 14 Oct 2026)
- QIMA: Quality control in India (checked 14 Oct 2026)
- QIMA: Accreditations (checked 14 Oct 2026)
- QIMA: Quality control pricing (checked 14 Oct 2026)
- SGS: About SGS (checked 14 Oct 2026)
- SGS India: SGS in India (checked 14 Oct 2026)
- SGS India: Product inspection (checked 14 Oct 2026)
- SGS India: Final random inspection (checked 14 Oct 2026)
- SGS: Furniture inspection (checked 14 Oct 2026)
- SGS: Chennai laboratory news, March 2024 (checked 14 Oct 2026)
- SGS: Accredited in Kuwait for inspection services, news July 2024 (checked 14 Oct 2026)
- NABCB: IB 003, SGS India, scope (checked 14 and 15 Oct 2026)