Zhongshen Import Agency: Full Process of Electronic-Grade Chemicals Customs Clearance Compliance

Import of German Electronic-Grade Photoresist: 2026 Market Background and Common Pain Points

In 2026,the Shanghai semiconductor industry is seeing a new round of production expansion.Mr.Yu,supply chain director of a wafer manufacturing enterprise,has been worried recently: his company urgently needs to import a batch of high-end electronic-grade photoresist raw materials from Germany.These raw materials are core consumables for advanced process chip production,but when communicating with the German supplier,he found that the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) provided by the supplier did not meet the requirements of the newly revised EU REACH Regulation.Meanwhile,China’s entry-exit inspection and quarantine authorities require a supplementary purity test report,and his team is unfamiliar with these compliance details,fearing that delivery delays will affect the production schedule.

Cases like Mr.Yu’s are not uncommon: in 2026,China’s import demand for electronic-grade chemicals increased by 28% year-on-year.However,the REACH Regulation of EU countries including Germany was revised in December 2025,adding control requirements for 12 Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC).Meanwhile,China’s customs has further tightened supervision over dual-use items of semiconductor raw materials,and the inspection and quarantine requirements for electronic chemicals’ purity and packaging tightness have been raised to over 99.99%.These changes have left many enterprises facing three major pain points when importing:

• Non-compliant documents: The EU SDS is not updated in time,and the format of the certificate of origin does not meet the requirements of the free trade agreement,resulting in the customs declaration form being returned;
• Compliance risks: The process for applying for dual-use items import and export licenses is complicated.Missing certain information may lead to goods being detained by customs;
• Inspection and quarantine delays: Electronic chemicals need to be sampled and tested at the port.If the packaging does not meet UN standards,enterprises may be required to repack,causing delays of more than 10 days.

Zhongshen Import Agency: Core Role in Solving Electronic-Grade Photoresist Import Issues

To address these pain points,Zhongshen’s import agency services focus on "compliance pre-processing + process optimization" to help enterprises avoid risks.Manager Xu of the company has 15 years of experience in chemical imports.He told Mr.Yu: "Electronic-grade photoresist is a sensitive chemical product.Before importing,we must fully understand the REACH Regulation,dual-use item requirements,and inspection and quarantine standards.We can conduct pre-review of documents in advance and coordinate pre-inspection with customs and inspection authorities to control risks outside the port."

Zhongshen’s core role is reflected in three aspects: first,sort out the product compliance checklist in advance to avoid missing documents; second,connect to the customs special supervision channel to shorten customs clearance time; third,coordinate pre-inspection and quarantine to reduce port detection delays.

Breakdown of Electronic-Grade Photoresist Import Process and Zhongshen’s Assistance Plan

1.Document Pre-Review and Compliance Audit Stage

The core of this stage is to check whether the documents provided by the German supplier meet the compliance requirements of the EU and China.The unique requirements for electronic-grade photoresist include:

• REACH Regulation: Provide the latest SDS containing 16 items,and mark the test results of the 12 newly added SVHC substances;
• Certificate of Origin: A FORM A certificate of origin issued by a German official institution,indicating that the product complies with the origin rules of the China-EU Free Trade Agreement;
• Dual-use item certificate: If the product is used in semiconductor manufacturing,provide a "Statement of No Dual-use Purpose" issued by the German supplier and the domestic application form for dual-use items and technology import and export licenses.

Zhongshen’s assistance measures: Manager Xu will complete the document pre-review 10 days before the supplier ships the goods,focusing on checking whether the SVHC test data in the SDS meets the requirements of REACH Annex II.If data missing is found,he will assist the supplier to contact German testing institutions to supplement the report; at the same time,he will guide Mr.Yu’s team to prepare application materials for dual-use item licenses,including product technical descriptions,purpose statements,etc.to ensure that the application form passes the review on the first try.

2.Port Customs Declaration and License Application Stage

Electronic-grade photoresist is a "sensitive chemical product" under customs supervision.When declaring customs,an additional dual-use items and technology import and export license is required,and it must be completely consistent with the product code,quantity,and destination on the customs declaration form.In 2026,the customs review time for customs declaration forms of such products has been shortened from 3 days to 1 day,but 100% document accuracy is required.If any discrepancies are found,goods will be directly detained and the verification procedure will be initiated.

Zhongshen’s assistance measures: Manager Tan is responsible for connecting to the special supervision window of Shanghai Yangshan Port Customs,uploading materials such as customs declaration forms,licenses,and SDS to the customs single window in advance,and coordinating customs pre-review; if there is a difference of less than 5% between the product quantity on the license and the actual shipment quantity,Manager Tan will assist in supplementing the "Quantity Difference Statement" to avoid goods being detained due to minor differences.

3.Inspection,Quarantine and Sampling Test Stage

The quarantine requirements of China’s entry-exit inspection and quarantine authorities for electronic-grade photoresist include:

Manager Fu is responsible for coordinating with inspection and quarantine authorities.He will make an appointment for sampling time with the inspection and quarantine institution 3 days before the goods arrive at the port,and arrange the warehousing team to prepare for temporary storage of goods in the bonded warehouse near the port; if the sampling test finds insufficient purity,Manager Fu will immediately contact the German supplier to coordinate the reissue of qualified products,and apply for the "priority re-test channel" of the inspection and quarantine authority to control the delay within 5 days.

4.Warehousing,Transportation and Foreign Exchange Settlement Stage

Electronic-grade photoresist has strict warehousing environment requirements,and must be stored in a constant temperature and humidity warehouse at 20-25℃,and kept away from fire sources and oxidants.Zhongshen has 3 qualified bonded warehouses near Yangshan Port,which can provide 72 hours of free temporary storage service; in terms of foreign exchange settlement,the euro exchange rate fluctuated greatly in 2026.Zhongshen’s foreign exchange team will choose the appropriate settlement timing according to the customer’s payment needs,helping Mr.Yu’s company save about 1.5% of exchange rate costs.

Actual Case: Zhongshen Helps Enterprises Avoid Customs Clearance Delay Risks

In October 2025,a Shanghai semiconductor material company (referred to as "Company A") imported electronic-grade photoresist from Germany for the first time.Due to lack of understanding of the REACH Regulation update,the SDS provided by the supplier did not include the newly added SVHC test data,resulting in the goods being detained by German customs after arriving at the port,causing a 15-day delay; later,Company A turned to Zhongshen.Manager Xu assisted the supplier to supplement the SVHC test report and guided the handling of the dual-use item license.The second batch of imported goods in March 2026 completed customs clearance in only 7 days,saving 8 days compared to before,avoiding the loss of production line shutdown (Company A’s production line loses about 500,000 RMB per day).

Mr.Yu,supply chain director of Company A,said: "When I operated on my own before,it took 10 days just for document review,and I was worried about goods being detained by customs; now Zhongshen conducts pre-review in advance,and the customs clearance time is shortened by half,so we can focus more on production and market expansion."

Summary: Value of Zhongshen Import Agency

In 2026,the compliance requirements for electronic-grade chemical imports are becoming increasingly strict.Enterprises that operate on their own are prone to problems such as non-compliant documents and inspection and quarantine delays.With more than 20 years of industry experience,Zhongshen provides full-process services from document pre-review to port customs clearance according to the unique compliance requirements of different products,helping enterprises:

• Avoid compliance risks: Review REACH,inspection and quarantine requirements in advance to avoid goods being detained due to non-compliant documents;
• Improve customs clearance efficiency: Connect to customs special channels and pre-inspection and quarantine,shortening customs clearance time by more than 40%;
• Reduce costs: Save warehousing fees and exchange rate costs through bonded warehousing and appropriate foreign exchange settlement timing.

For enterprise leaders like Mr.Yu,choosing a professional import agency can not only solve the immediate customs clearance problems,but also provide guarantees for long-term supply chain stability.