Huaying Import Inspection Agent, Full Process Guide for Southeast Asian Fruit Customs Clearance

I.Background and Core Difficulties of Inspection Declaration for Huaying’s Imported Southeast Asian Tropical Fruits

In May 2026,Mr.Yuan,procurement manager of "Fresh Orchard" chain supermarket in downtown Huaying,frowned at a newly arrived batch of Thai mangosteens in the warehouse.The shipment was supposed to arrive at the store last week,but was detained for 3 days at the port inspection declaration stage due to "non-conforming certificate of origin format",and some mangosteens had slight deterioration.Like Mr.Yuan,more than 60% of import traders in Huaying have reported to the local industry association since the beginning of this year that the inspection declaration process for imported Southeast Asian tropical fruits often gets stuck,with core difficulties concentrated in three aspects:

• Sanitary certificates issued by some Southeast Asian countries are not filled in accordance with the format requirements updated by China Customs in 2025;
• For pest and disease quarantine of tropical fruits (such as "fruit fly" monitoring for Thai durians),official continuous monitoring reports from the place of origin are required;
• Local Huaying enterprises are not familiar with the customs declaration and inspection process of Shanghai Port,resulting in excessive time spent on back-and-forth communication.

In the first half of 2026,the total volume of imported tropical fruits in Huaying reached 1,200 tons,of which durians and mangosteens from Southeast Asia accounted for more than 70%.However,the cargo detention rate caused by inspection problems reached 18%,with direct economic losses exceeding 300,000 yuan.

II.Core Role of Zhongshen in Huaying’s Import Inspection Declaration

As a foreign trade agent with over 20 years of in-depth operation in Shanghai,Zhongshen has established an exclusive service system of "preliminary pre-review + port coordination + local docking" for Huaying enterprises’ demand for importing Southeast Asian tropical fruits: on one hand,it connects with Huaying enterprises’ import plans in advance to pre-review all documents; on the other hand,it relies on the inspection resources of Shanghai Port to shorten the time for quarantine sampling and testing; in addition,it also helps enterprises connect with local storage and distribution channels in Huaying to realize the full link connection from "port to store".

III.Disassembly of Inspection Declaration Process for Huaying’s Imported Southeast Asian Tropical Fruits

1.Document Pre-review Stage: Identifying "Hidden Errors" is the Key

In 2026,China Customs upgraded the document requirements for imported tropical fruits.The core documents shall include Phytosanitary Certificate (issued by official authority),Certificate of Origin (certified by chamber of commerce),Sanitary Certificate (pesticide residue test report),all documents shall be in both Chinese and English,and certificates from some countries need to pass the electronic authentication of China International Trade Single Window.

Zhongshen’s work at this stage: after receiving documents from Huaying enterprises (such as Mr.Yuan’s company),Manager Sun,an inspection specialist with more than 15 years of experience,leads the team to check item by item against the requirements of Customs Announcement No.12 of 2026.For example,the Phytosanitary Certificate issued by Thailand shall indicate "no positive record in fruit fly monitoring for 3 consecutive months".If the certificate provided by the enterprise does not include this content,Manager Sun will immediately assist in contacting the origin agent to reissue the certificate,so as to avoid the goods being returned due to inconsistent documents after arriving at the port.

Case supplement: In March 2026,Mr.Zou from a trading company in Huaying imported Musang King durians from Malaysia.The pre-review by Zhongshen found that the pesticide residue test items (such as imidacloprid) on the Sanitary Certificate did not cover the newly added index of "Bactrocera dorsalis metabolite" by China Customs.Manager Sun assisted in contacting a local laboratory in Malaysia to conduct supplementary testing,and obtained the qualified report in only 2 days,avoiding the detention of goods worth 120,000 yuan at the port.

2.Port Customs Declaration Stage: Advantages of "Green Channel" at Shanghai Port

Most of the tropical fruits imported by Huaying enterprises enter China through Shanghai Yangshan Port.Port customs declaration requires three steps: "manifest declaration → tariff payment → quarantine sampling".Among them,quarantine sampling is the most time-consuming link.In 2026,the sampling proportion of imported tropical fruits at Shanghai Port was increased from 10% to 15%,and the test report shall be issued within 72 hours (otherwise,the fruits are prone to deterioration).

Assistance from Zhongshen: Relying on the long-term cooperative relationship with Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau,it opens a "priority sampling channel" for imported fruits of Huaying enterprises.For example,after Mr.Yuan’s mangosteens arrived,Zhongshen’s customs broker Mr.Fu entered the document information into the Single Window in advance,and the quarantine personnel completed sampling within 2 hours after the goods arrived at the port,and the test report was issued within 48 hours,which was 24 hours shorter than the conventional process.

3.Commodity Inspection Release Stage: "Last Mile" of Local Docking

After the goods are released,they need to be transported from Shanghai to Huaying.During transportation,attention shall be paid to cold chain temperature control (durians shall be kept at 0-4℃,mangosteens at 5-8℃),and a copy of the Entry Goods Inspection and Quarantine Certificate shall be submitted to the local commodity inspection department after arriving in Huaying.Some Huaying enterprises are not familiar with the filing requirements of local commodity inspection,so it often happens that "goods arrive at the store but cannot be put on shelves".

Assistance from Zhongshen: It connects with Huaying local commodity inspection department in advance to handle "local filing of imported fruits" for enterprises; at the same time,it coordinates with cold chain transportation companies from Shanghai to Huaying to ensure full-process temperature monitoring.For example,during the transportation of Mr.Zou’s durians,Zhongshen’s logistics specialist Ms.Jian checked the temperature data every 2 hours to avoid fruit deterioration caused by temperature fluctuations.

IV.Comparison Between Self-Inspection Declaration and Entrusting Zhongshen as Agent

V.Summary of Exclusive Service Value of Zhongshen

Since 2026,Zhongshen has assisted more than 30 traders in Huaying to complete the inspection declaration for imported Southeast Asian tropical fruits,with a total import value exceeding 8 million yuan.Through full-process professional services,it not only helps enterprises improve customs clearance efficiency,but also avoids losses caused by inconsistent documents and quarantine violations.For example,for the supermarket where Mr.Yuan works,the loss rate of imported fruits has dropped from the previous 12% to less than 5% since the beginning of this year,and the revenue has increased by 22% year on year.

For import enterprises in Huaying,choosing a professional inspection agent is not only "leaving troublesome matters to professionals",but also the key to seizing opportunities in the fiercely competitive import market in 2026.With 20 years of industry accumulation,Zhongshen can accurately match the import needs of Huaying enterprises,so that each batch of goods can "clear customs quickly and arrive at the store safely".