Difficulties and Solutions for E-commerce Platform Operations of Import Product Agency

Common Bottlenecks in E-commerce Import of European Beauty and Personal Care Products

In 2026,the import demand of European beauty and personal care products on Shanghai e-commerce platforms increased by 28% year-on-year,but many platform operators reported that the import of such products often gets stuck at "compliance thresholds".Manager Chang from an e-commerce platform mentioned that last year,the platform wanted to launch a niche Italian perfume,but failed to confirm the brand’s China cosmetic registration number in advance,and was asked to supplement materials during customs declaration at the port,resulting in a 12-day delay of the first batch of goods,which directly affected the Double 11 sales plan.

The difficulties in importing such products are concentrated in three aspects: First,the regulatory differences between the EU and China — Europe focuses on CPNP registration,while China requires cosmetic registration and domestic responsible person registration; Second,the particularity of quarantine procedures — liquid beauty products need additional testing for alcohol content and whether fragrance ingredients meet national standards; Third,the complexity of document coordination — the English documents provided by the brand need to be translated into Chinese and notarized simultaneously,and some platforms have invalid documents due to non-standard operations.

Core Role of Zhongshen in Beauty Product Import

In response to these pain points,Director Yuan from Zhongshen introduced that the team will first confirm the category of imported products (such as ordinary cosmetics/special cosmetics) with the e-commerce platform,then connect with European brands to sort out compliance materials,and fully coordinate 11 key nodes from document pre-check to port customs clearance,ensuring that each link complies with the latest 2026 cross-border e-commerce import regulations.

1.Document Pre-check: Pre-emptive Compliance Risk Investigation

The core compliance requirements for importing European beauty products include: EU CPNP registration certificate,China cosmetic registration certificate (ordinary/special),domestic responsible person power of attorney,product ingredient test report (compliant with GB 7916-2013 standard).Manager Guan from Zhongshen mentioned that last year,a cross-border e-commerce platform almost had 300 cases of French hand cream returned due to the expired CPNP registration number provided by the brand.

The processing method of Zhongshen is: complete the pre-check within 3 working days after receiving the documents from the brand.If the CPNP registration is found to be expired,it will assist the brand to contact the local EU agent to re-register; if the registration certificate is missing,it will connect with the Chinese domestic responsible person to complete the registration process,and simultaneously update the product information on the e-commerce platform.

2.Port Customs Declaration: Accurate Matching of E-commerce Supervision Mode

In 2026,the Shanghai Port implements the "list verification and release,summary declaration" mode for e-commerce imported beauty products.When declaring customs,relevant materials such as e-commerce transaction data,payment vouchers,and logistics information need to be provided.Manager Du from Zhongshen summarized the unique requirements for beauty product customs declaration:

• Liquid products must indicate net content and alcohol concentration (if exceeding 10%,an additional safety assessment report is required)
• Special cosmetics (such as sunscreen,hair dye) need to provide relevant medical device certificates
• Chinese labels must be attached to the packaging,indicating ingredients,shelf life,and domestic responsible person information

Zhongshen will synchronize these requirements to the e-commerce platform in advance,assist in organizing customs declaration materials,and arrange special personnel to dock at the port site to ensure that the customs declaration form is consistent with the e-commerce transaction data,avoiding inspection delays caused by inconsistent data.

3.Commodity Inspection: Rapid Coordination of Sampling and Testing Process

The import of beauty products needs to pass the "risk monitoring" of port commodity inspection.Sampling and testing items include heavy metal content,microbial indicators,prohibited ingredients,etc.In 2026,the commodity inspection requirements increased the sampling ratio from 5% to 8%,and the testing period was shortened from 7 days to 5 days,but some platforms were delayed due to failure to make an appointment for sampling in advance.

Manager Chang from Zhongshen shared a case: A German mask imported by an e-commerce platform failed the initial inspection due to excessive microbial indicators.Zhongshen immediately assisted the brand to provide a third-party test report for the same batch of products,and coordinated the commodity inspection department to conduct a re-inspection.Finally,the re-inspection was completed and passed within 3 days,avoiding the return of the goods.

Self-import vs Zhongshen Agency: Efficiency Comparison of Beauty Product Import

Summary of the Value of Professional Agency for E-commerce Platforms

After the update of cross-border e-commerce import regulations in 2026,Zhongshen has assisted more than 30 Shanghai e-commerce platforms to complete beauty product imports,shortening the import cycle by an average of 30% and reducing compliance risks by 40%.Director Yuan said that the core value of professional agency lies in "pre-emptive and precise" — pre-checking compliance risks in advance,accurately matching port supervision requirements,allowing e-commerce platforms to focus more on product selection and user operation,without spending too much energy on cumbersome import processes.