Verification & Trust Rules

Verification is the recorded outcome of a review carried out by TradeGat against evidence supplied by a business or obtained from a named source. It is granted per level — business, identity, address, factory, product, export and financial — so a business can be verified at one level while another level is still open. How the levels and the Trust Score work is described on Trust & Verification.

• Not started — no case has been opened for this level. Nothing has been checked.
• Pending — a case has been submitted and is waiting for review. Documents may be attached, but nothing is confirmed.
• Under review / Additional verification required — a reviewer is working on the case, or has asked for further evidence before a decision can be made.
• Verified — a reviewer confirmed the evidence against a named source and recorded a verification date and a next review date.
• Expired — a previously verified level passed its review date and was not renewed. The badge is no longer shown.
• Rejected — the evidence did not support the claim. The reason is recorded on the case.
• Suspended — verification was withdrawn following a breach, a dispute pattern or a risk finding. The badge is removed immediately.

Uploading a document opens or advances a review; it never marks a business, factory or product as verified. Businesses cannot set their own verification status, verification date, reviewer fields or review notes — the platform rejects those changes on the server, and every submission stays pending until a reviewer decides.

Only TradeGat reviewers may verify, reject, suspend or reopen a case. Decisions are recorded with the reviewer, the decision date, the source that was checked and a written note, and important actions are written to an internal audit log.

A verification level is only shown as verified once a source is recorded against it — an official registry, a business licence, a chamber of commerce, a customs authority, a certification body, an independent inspection or a TradeGat document review. Where no source has been recorded, the platform states that instead of implying one.

Verification is time-bound. Each verified level carries a next review date, and the business is asked to renew before it passes. If a level expires, is suspended, or the underlying evidence is withdrawn, the badge stops being displayed on the public profile and the verification passport automatically — badges are read from the verification record, not set by hand.

No payment, advertising spend or membership level grants, accelerates or implies verification. Advertising is labelled as sponsored and is separated from trust; see the Ad Policy and the "Verified, Sponsored and membership" section on Trust & Verification.

Documents submitted for verification are stored privately and are visible only to the owning organisation and TradeGat reviewers. They are never published, never shared with other businesses, and never shown on public profiles. Reviewer notes and applicant notes are restricted in the same way. See the Privacy Policy.

Claiming or implying a verification level that has not been granted — in listings, profiles, advertising or messages — is a breach of these rules and of the Marketplace Rules. It can result in removal of listings, withdrawal of verification levels and suspension.

Verification confirms that specific evidence was reviewed at a point in time. It is not a guarantee of product quality, delivery, solvency or the outcome of any transaction, and it does not replace your own due diligence. Read the Safety Center before sending payment to a new counterparty.