Kunshan Import Agency and Customs Declaration Company, Palm Oil Import Compliance & Efficiency Improvement

Market Background and Common Difficulties of Palm Oil Import in Kunshan

In 2026,as a key manufacturing hub in the Yangtze River Delta,Kunshan’s two major industrial clusters of food processing and daily chemical products see continuous rising demand for palm oil.According to data from the local industry association,palm oil import volume increased by 18% year-on-year in the first half of 2026,80% of which is used for edible blend oil production and daily chemical raw material supply.However,many enterprises feedback that problems including inconsistent documents and overtime quarantine often prolong customs clearance cycle from the industry average 5 days to over 10 days.Some enterprises are even rejected and returned due to excessive aflatoxin,with direct losses exceeding 200,000 RMB.

Three Core Difficulties in Palm Oil Import

• High document complexity: Enterprises need to provide more than 5 types of documents including ASEAN FORM E Certificate of Origin,Animal and Plant Quarantine Permit,Quality Certificate (complying with GB15680-2023 "Edible Vegetable Oil Palm Oil" standard) and other documents.Some enterprises’ declarations are rejected for missing the "Pre-shipment Inspection Certificate";
• Strict quarantine requirements: Palm oil is an animal and plant derived product,and port commodity inspection requires sampling and testing of 8 indicators including Aflatoxin B1 (limit ≤10μg/kg) and acid value (limit ≤0.3mgKOH/g).If the test result hits the critical value,a second re-inspection will be launched,adding 3-5 days of processing time;
• Easy to miss tariff preferences: Palm oil imported from ASEAN countries can enjoy tariff reduction under FORM E (the tax rate drops from 5% to 3% in 2026),but enterprises need to correctly fill in "palm oil type (crude/refined)" in declaration elements.Nearly 30% of enterprises miss the preference due to wrong description of the type.

Core Role of Zhongshen in Palm Oil Import

Targeting the pain points of palm oil import for Kunshan enterprises,Zhongshen relies on the port resources of Shanghai headquarters and local service team in Kunshan,to provide customers with customized agency services featuring "preliminary pre-review + port docking + local delivery".Different from general agency companies,Zhongshen has established an exclusive service process for palm oil,with a 5-person special team led by Manager Luo in charge of docking,and follows up the whole process from contract signing to cargo warehousing.

Whole Process Disassembly of Palm Oil Import and Zhongshen’s Solution

Stage 1: Document Pre-review (7 working days before cargo arrival at port)

Document requirements for palm oil import are much higher than ordinary goods.After receiving the initial documents provided by customers,Zhongshen will conduct 3 rounds of verification:

First,verify the validity of core documents: For example,for ASEAN FORM E Certificate of Origin,it is necessary to confirm that the issuing authority is the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia,and the "commodity code" on the certificate is consistent with the declared code (palm oil code is 1511100000); the Animal and Plant Quarantine Permit must be within the validity period,and the "exporting country/region" matches the actual port of departure.Manager Luo once assisted a customer from a Kunshan daily chemical enterprise to change the permit in advance,when the permit indicated exporting region as "Indonesia" while the actual goods were shipped from Malaysia,avoiding return after cargo arrival.

Second,supplement required attachments: According to the latest requirements in 2026,enterprises need to provide "Non-GMO Statement" (palm oil is naturally non-GMO,but some importers still require the statement) and "Transport Temperature Record" (container temperature needs to be maintained at 20-25°C to avoid oxidative deterioration).Zhongshen will inform customers of required supplementary materials in advance to avoid delay caused by supplementary documents after arrival.

Stage 2: Port Customs Declaration (within 24 hours after cargo arrival at port)

Palm oil is a legally inspection commodity,and commodity inspection declaration must be submitted simultaneously with customs declaration.Relying on the port resources of Shanghai Yangshan Port,Zhongshen docks with customs brokers in advance to ensure accurate declaration elements:

• Declaration elements need to include 12 details such as "palm oil processing technology (refined/unrefined)" and "whether antioxidant is added".Zhongshen team will check one by one to avoid declaration rejection caused by missing elements;
• Tariff preference declaration: For palm oil imported from ASEAN,Zhongshen will check "FORM E Preference" in the customs declaration system and upload the scanned copy of the certificate at the same time.Since 2026,it has helped 32 Kunshan enterprises enjoy tariff reduction,saving an average of 12,000 RMB per enterprise;
• Manifest information synchronization: Confirm manifest data with shipping companies in advance to ensure "container number" and "cargo weight" are consistent with actual conditions,avoiding demurrage caused by manifest errors.

Stage 3: Commodity Inspection and Release (3-5 days after cargo arrival at port)

The core of palm oil commodity inspection is quality testing and quarantine approval.Zhongshen’s solutions include:

In March 2026,Mr.Wen from a Kunshan food company imported 120 tons of refined palm oil from Malaysia.He had encountered 7 days of customs clearance delay due to "critical aflatoxin test result" when he did not conduct document pre-review before.This time,with Zhongshen’s service,Manager Luo pre-reviewed the documents 7 working days in advance,found that the "transport temperature record" provided by the customer lacked data of the last 2 days,assisted to supplement the data and passed the pre-review smoothly; after arrival,Zhongshen coordinated with the port commodity inspection authority to arrange sampling in advance,and the test result was issued within 3 days.Finally,the whole customs clearance process only took 4 days,1 day shorter than the industry average,saving 3,000 RMB in demurrage.

Core Value Summary of Zhongshen’s Agency Service

Targeting the pain points of palm oil import for Kunshan enterprises,Zhongshen’s professional agency service is mainly reflected in three aspects: first,preliminary risk prevention and control,through document pre-review 7 working days in advance,more than 90% of document problems are solved before cargo arrival at port; second,special person full tracking,the special team led by Manager Luo follows up the whole process of commodity inspection and customs declaration,avoiding delay caused by poor information transmission; third,local resource integration,docking with local constant temperature warehouses and bonded warehouses in Kunshan,ensuring rapid warehousing after arrival and avoiding deterioration loss.

Since 2026,Zhongshen has provided palm oil import agency services for 45 Kunshan enterprises,with cumulative import volume exceeding 2,000 tons.The average customer customs clearance cycle has been shortened from 10 days to 4.5 days,and the total tariff reduction exceeds 500,000 RMB,effectively helping enterprises improve import efficiency and reduce compliance risks.