Abstract: An apparatus for automatic insertion of a valved bag of paper or other flexible sheet material on to a charging nozzle of a machine adapted to fill the bag with material in granular or powder form, in which the bags are fed from a supply thereof sequentially by means of a distributing device to an inserting device. The inserting device includes means for picking up a bag from the distributing device, means for opening the valve and for testing the operativeness of the valve, means for discarding a bag with an inoperative valve and means for feeding a bag with an operative valve to the charging nozzle of the bag-filling machine.