Indonesian Coffee Quality Claims & Arbitration: 2025 Guide

A practical, step‑by‑step playbook for filing a GCA coffee arrival quality claim on Indonesian green coffee in 2025: exact timeline, sampling and evidence, neutral inspections, what to do if the seller rejects your claim, and what arbitration really costs.

If you buy Indonesian green coffee under GCA terms, you don’t want to “figure it out when there’s a problem.” We’ve processed and exported thousands of tons. We’ve also sat on both sides of quality disputes. Here’s the exact arrival-claim timeline, sampling protocol, and evidence you’ll need in 2025 to protect your position and resolve issues fast.

The 2025 baseline under GCA terms

GCA contracts set time bars and procedures for quality and condition claims on arrival. The precise deadlines can vary by form and any amendments in your sales confirmation. In practice we see two patterns in the U.S. market:

Ex-dock/ex-warehouse sales. Buyers typically have 7–14 calendar days from first availability or delivery to lodge an arrival quality claim.
FOB/CFR/CIF sales. Buyers typically have 14–21 calendar days from arrival or customs release to lodge a claim.

Here’s the thing. Arbitrators will start with your contract wording. So if your confirmation says “quality claims within 7 days of first release,” that governs. When in doubt, file early. Our rule of thumb is to give provisional notice within 48 hours of discovering an issue and submit a formal, detailed claim within 7 days. That keeps you well inside any GCA time bar.

Practical takeaway: Write the time bar into the contract. We recommend: “Arrival quality claim notice within 7 calendar days of first warehouse release; samples sealed within 48 hours of discovery; final documentation within 14 days.”

A step‑by‑step arrival claim timeline

Here’s the workflow we coach buyers and partners to follow. It’s tight, and that’s the point.

Day 0–1: Arrival and intake

Photograph pallets, container seals, and bag marks before breaking down. Log temperatures if available and note any damp or odor in the container. Don’t open more bags than necessary.
Pull preliminary samples as soon as the load is secure in your warehouse.

Day 1–2: Rapid screening

Measure moisture and water activity from three combined sub‑samples. Record instrument type, calibration date, and readings.
Quick visual classification on a 300 g sample to spot primary defects and screen size issues.
Roast and cup a fast profile using SCA protocol. Record roast curves and cupping forms.

Within 48 hours: Provisional notice

If there’s a material deviation, send provisional notice to the seller. Include shipment details, lot/bag IDs, and what you’re seeing (e.g., “elevated primary defects, high moisture 13.2%, and 2–3 point drop vs. pre‑shipment Q report”). Ask seller if they want to appoint a neutral and how they’d like samples sealed. Keep it short but timestamped.

Day 2–5: Evidence lock‑down

Draw representative samples. Use a sampling probe on a statistically valid number of bags. Seal A/B/C sets with tamper‑evident seals. Photograph seals and logs.
Commission a neutral inspection. SGS, Cotecna, Intertek, or Bureau Veritas can issue a neutral inspection certificate for moisture/defects. For cup quality, appoint a neutral Q Grader or lab neither party controls.

Day 5–7: Formal claim

Submit a formal claim package: cover letter, sampling report, SCA Green Classification counts, cupping sheets from your lab and the neutral, moisture/aw readings, photos, and any pre‑shipment evidence. State the remedy sought (allowance per bag, reconditioning, replacement, or rejection if contractually justified).

Day 7–14: Commercial resolution window

Negotiate a settlement. Most sellers will offer an allowance or replacement if the neutral confirms material deviation. If talks stall, confirm preservation of the beans and escalate per the GCA arbitration clause.

What evidence persuades an arbitrator (and gets sellers to settle)

In our experience, three things decide most disputes: a defensible sampling method, an independent defect count, and a neutral cupping report.

Chain of custody. Log who sampled, when, which bags, and where samples were stored. Use sealed A/B/C sets. Keep one set untouched for arbitration.
SCA Defect count. Classify a 300 g sample per SCA Green Arabica standards, counting primary and secondary defects. Run at least three replicates from independent bag pulls and average the result.
Moisture and aw. Report moisture to 0.1% and water activity to 0.01 with the device model and calibration record.
Cupping. Provide your lab’s SCA forms and a neutral lab’s forms. For score disputes, arbitrators like to see three roast repetitions with the same profile and the same water spec.

Pro tip: Video a short, continuous clip of the sampling session. Arbitrators rarely need it, but sellers often settle when they see clean chain‑of‑custody.

How do I take a representative sample for an SCA defect count?

Sample size. Pull increments from at least √N bags, minimum 10 bags, where N is total bags. For a 320‑bag lot, that’s 18–20 bags. We usually target 10% of bags up to 30.
Where to probe. From top, middle, and bottom layers of pallets. Insert the trier diagonally to reach centers.
Composite properly. Combine increments, mix, then split using a riffle splitter. Draw 300 g for classification and 500 g for cupping.
Record bag IDs. List each sampled bag number in your log.

Immediate takeaway: Decide your sampling plan before the container lands. Don’t improvise under time pressure.

Can moisture above 12% justify rejecting an Indonesian coffee lot?

Short answer. Sometimes. Many contracts specify 10.0–12.0% moisture. Some allow up to 12.5%. If your contract caps moisture at 12.0% and the neutral certificate shows 12.8%, you have grounds for a condition claim. Rejection is stronger if there’s mold, visible condensation, or elevated water activity above 0.60 indicating instability.

But if your contract says “moisture ≤ 13%” and your reading is 12.3%, you’re unlikely to win a rejection unless there are other material defects. Remedies tend to be allowances or reconditioning.

Our export lots are moisture‑controlled. For example, Robusta Lampung Green Coffee Beans (ELB & Grades 2–4) ship with moisture ≤13% and screen 15–19 for stable storage. Still, we advise buyers to check moisture and aw on arrival because warehouse climate can shift real‑world readings.

What evidence do I need for a cupping score dispute?

Pre‑shipment baseline. Attach the seller’s or third‑party pre‑shipment Q report and roast profile.
Repeatable roast. Match the pre‑shipment roast level. Document charge temp, end temp, development time, and batch size.
Panel and neutrality. Provide your lab’s scores and a neutral lab’s scores. A variance tolerance of ±1.0–1.5 points compared to the contracted spec is common. Put that tolerance in your contracts to avoid gray areas.

Context matters. If you bought a fermentation‑forward lot like Bali, Java, Gayo & Mandheling - Wine Green Arabica Coffee Beans, expect fruit and vinous notes and higher cup variability. Spell out those attributes in the sales confirmation. That prevents “not what we expected” claims that don’t hold up in arbitration.

Who can serve as a neutral third party?

Inspection houses: SGS, Cotecna, Intertek, Bureau Veritas. Strong for moisture, condition, and defect certificates.
Neutral cupping labs/Q Graders: independent labs not affiliated with buyer or seller. Many inspection houses can coordinate this.
Local options at destination: reputable specialty labs that follow SCA protocols, with transparent calibration practices.

Tip: Pre‑name acceptable neutrals in the contract so you’re not negotiating while the time bar runs.

What happens if the seller rejects my quality claim?

Two tracks. First, propose a joint re‑inspection by a named neutral within a week. If that confirms your findings and talks still stall, file for GCA arbitration pursuant to the arbitration clause in your contract. Preserve beans in original bags and avoid rebagging unless safety requires it. If rebagging is necessary, document the process and keep the jute and marks. Who pays for rebagging is typically part of the settlement unless your contract already assigns that cost.

How much does GCA arbitration cost and how long does it take?

Expect filing and admin fees in the low four figures and total costs, including expert reports, in the USD 5,000–15,000 range for a small to mid‑size dispute. Larger, complex cases can exceed that. From filing to award, we usually see 2–6 months. Most cases settle once a neutral report lands, well before an award.

If you want a second opinion before you escalate, we’re happy to sanity‑check your dossier or suggest neutrals. Need a template for a notice of claim? Contact us on whatsapp.

Common mistakes that sink otherwise valid claims

Waiting too long. You cupped on Day 10 and filed on Day 15. The time bar has already passed in many contracts.
Weak sampling. Grabbing a few hand scoops from two bags isn’t representative.
Moving product. Rebagging or blending before the neutral sees it destroys chain‑of‑custody.
Changing roast profiles. If you roasted darker than the pre‑shipment sample, expect lower acidity and score drift.
No neutral. Your internal lab may be world‑class, but arbitration leans on independent reports.

Quick win: Build a 1‑page SOP with timers for notice, sampling, and neutral booking. Train your warehouse team to start the clock when the first pallet hits the floor.

When this playbook applies (and when it doesn’t)

This guide focuses on arrival quality and condition claims under GCA‑style contracts for green coffee. It doesn’t cover price/quantity disputes, shipping damage or shortage, or EU ECF terms. If you’re buying Indonesian civet coffee or aged profiles like Kopi Luwak Green Coffee Beans (Authentic Wild Civet Arabica) or Musty Cup Green Coffee Beans (Aged Arabica), specify profile expectations and score tolerances clearly. That prevents subjective “preference” debates from becoming claims.

Fast resources you can use today

Pre‑shipment alignment. Ask for the pre‑shipment Q report, SCA Green Classification sheet, and moisture/aw logs with batch IDs. We include these for lots like Arabica Bali Kintamani Grade 1 Green Coffee Beans and Sumatra Mandheling Green Coffee Beans.
Arrival kit. Keep tamper‑evident seals, a riffle splitter, calibrated moisture meter, and SCA forms ready. Don’t scramble on Day 1.
Contract language. Add explicit time bars, neutral lists, moisture limits, and cupping variance tolerance (±1.0–1.5 points vs. pre‑shipment) to your confirmations.

Looking for stable, specification‑tight Indonesian lots to reduce claim risk? Start with our core green portfolio and request pre‑shipment documentation. View our products.

Bottom line. File early. Sample properly. Go neutral fast. Do those three, and 3 out of 5 disputes we see never reach arbitration. And when they do, you’ll have the file that wins.