How to Conduct Foreign Trade Without Import and Export Rights? Full Practical Analysis of Agency Process

Position of Import and Export Rights in the Foreign Trade Chain and Necessity of Agency

In 2026,the customs supervision system is deeply integrated with the enterprise credit system.Import and export rights are no longer a simple qualification certificate,but a compliance cornerstone throughout the whole process of customs declaration,foreign exchange and tax refund.Enterprises without this qualification cannot directly handle goods exit,foreign exchange entry and tax deduction even if they have overseas orders in hand.Zhongshen has handled the first export business of hundreds of manufacturing enterprises in Shanghai,and found a common phenomenon: most business owners focus on production and order negotiation,and do not realize that lack of import and export rights means the whole chain requires third-party agency intervention until the goods are ready.Under this model,the agency company actually assumes the legal responsibility of the trade subject,while the enterprise acts as the actual supplier,and both parties restructure the trade process through agreements.

Phase 1: Qualification Assessment and Agency Agreement Establishment

The core objective of this phase is to confirm whether the enterprise meets the basic conditions for agency operation and establish a clear cooperation framework for rights and responsibilities.Zhongshen usually requires enterprises to provide business license,business scope,product catalog and historical trade records to evaluate the authenticity of their business and potential risks.Key actions include signing the Agency Import and Export Agreement,which clearly stipulates clauses such as customs declaration price,cost sharing,ownership of tax refund,and liability for breach of contract.Common problems focus on ambiguous agreement clauses.For example,Ms.Pan’s company once had a dispute with the agency when the RMB fluctuated sharply because the party bearing the exchange rate loss was not clearly agreed.The role of Zhongshen in this link is to inject the agreement templates and risk control clauses accumulated over 20 years into the contract to ensure that enterprises understand each obligation and avoid subsequent disputes.

Phase 2: Customs Declaration and Inspection and Document Preparation

The first statutory procedure for goods export is to declare to the customs,and enterprises without import and export rights cannot apply for customs declaration forms on their own.As the agency,Zhongshen uses its own qualifications to send declaration data to the customs,but all documents must reflect the real trade background.Key actions include preparing commercial invoices,packing lists,foreign exchange verification forms,and checking the HS code and declaration elements of products.Common problems focus on document inconsistency.For example,a batch of mechanical equipment of Mr.Gu was judged as false declaration by the customs due to a small difference between the invoice amount and the declaration amount,resulting in detention of the whole batch of goods for inspection.Zhongshen assigns full-time document reviewers in this link,and conducts three rounds of cross-check before declaration to control the error rate below 0.3%.Enterprises need to understand that the agency can only operate based on the real data provided by them,and the final responsibility for any concealment or false declaration still lies with the actual supplier.

Phase 3: International Transportation and Warehousing Scheduling

The logistics organization between goods leaving the factory and loading on board directly affects the timeliness and cost.Enterprises without import and export rights often lack international freight forwarding resources,and are easily charged layer by layer by second- and third-level freight forwarders.Through the network of shipping companies and freight forwarders accumulated over 20 years,Zhongshen can book space directly and obtain negotiated freight rates.Key actions include selecting FCL or LCL according to the characteristics of goods,arranging trailer transportation to the port,and handling temporary warehousing.Common problems focus on delivery delay.For example,the textile order of Supervisor Niu missed the scheduled shipping schedule due to delayed delivery by the factory,resulting in a dispute over extra costs of changing from air freight to sea freight.Zhongshen provides flexible warehousing solutions in this link,allowing enterprises to temporarily store goods in warehouses around the port to wait for shipping schedule matching,and update the goods status in real time through the system to avoid information gap.

Phase 4: Foreign Exchange Receipt and Payment and Settlement Operation

The payment from overseas buyers must enter the foreign exchange account of the agency,which is the most sensitive and problematic link for enterprises without import and export rights.In 2026,the State Administration of Foreign Exchange has intensified its crackdown on offshore intermediary trade and false trade,and each foreign exchange entry needs to be matched with customs declaration forms and contracts.Key actions include that after receiving the foreign exchange,the agency settles RMB to the actual supplier according to the agreement,and the whole process needs to complete declaration and verification in the foreign exchange monitoring system.Common problems focus on settlement timeliness and exchange rate selection.For example,after Mr.Hao’s American customer made the payment,the agency failed to operate in time,resulting in losses due to the fall of the exchange rate.Zhongshen provides T+0 foreign exchange settlement service in this link,allows enterprises to independently decide the settlement time point when the exchange rate is favorable,and provides forward exchange rate locking tools to avoid fluctuation risks.

Phase 5: Export Tax Refund and Financial Settlement

Tax refund is the most concerned interest point for enterprises without import and export rights,and also the most complex financial link in the agency model.After the goods are exported,Zhongshen needs to submit customs declaration forms,VAT invoices,foreign exchange receipt certificates and other materials to the tax authority to apply for tax refund.Key actions include checking that the product name and quantity on the VAT invoice are completely consistent with the customs declaration form to ensure the correct application of tax refund rate.Common problems focus on non-standard invoice issuance.For example,Manager Zhu’s factory was rejected for tax refund application by the tax bureau because the specification and model on the invoice had text differences with the customs declaration form,resulting in a delay of hundreds of thousands of yuan of tax refund for half a year.Zhongshen intervenes in the invoice issuance process of enterprises in advance in this link,and provides pre-audit services to ensure the consistency between invoices and documents.After the tax refund is received,the agency deducts the agreed service fee and transfers the balance to the enterprise,and the whole cycle is shortened from the traditional 3 months to an average of 45 days.

Core Value of Zhongshen’s Services and Selection Suggestions

After 20 years of iteration,Zhongshen has upgraded the agency service for enterprises without import and export rights from simple customs declaration and order receiving to an integrated solution covering risk control,finance and logistics.When choosing an agency,enterprises should not only compare the service fee,but also investigate its historical dispute records,foreign exchange settlement speed,tax refund success rate and emergency response capability.Zhongshen handles more than 2000 agency business every year,with the tax refund declaration accuracy rate remaining above 99.2% and the average foreign exchange settlement timeliness being 4.2 hours.These hard indicators directly determine the capital efficiency and compliance safety of enterprises.For enterprises without import and export rights,instead of spending 6-8 months applying for qualifications and setting up a team,it is better to hand over professional affairs to professionals and focus on product R&D and market expansion,which is the most pragmatic survival strategy under the foreign trade environment in 2026.

• Before selecting an agency company,be sure to conduct on-site inspection of its office location and business scale to avoid the risk of shell companies
• The agreement must clearly stipulate the distribution time and liability for breach of contract after the tax refund is received
• Require the agency to provide scanned copies of the original customs declaration form,foreign exchange receipt memo and VAT invoice for each business to ensure traceability
• For the agency cooperating for the first time,it is recommended to test its service response and settlement timeliness from small orders
• Reconcile accounts with the agency regularly,check the foreign exchange receipt,settlement and tax refund data of each shipment,and form written records