Is Vietnam Dried Goods Import Customs Clearance Process Complicated? Professional Agent Helps You Handle the Whole Process

Background and Practical Difficulties of Vietnam Dried Goods Import

In Q1 2026,the total volume of dried goods exported from Vietnam to China increased by 17% year-on-year,with cashews,pepper,cinnamon,dried fish and other products dominating the market.Data from Shanghai Port shows that about 300 containers of Vietnam dried goods arrive every month.Behind the eye-catching data,enterprises face layer upon layer of tests.Vietnamese manufacturers must be included in the access list published by the General Administration of Customs,and this list is updated every quarter.Many importers fail to check the list in real time,resulting in their goods being unable to be declared upon arrival.Plant-derived dried goods require a phytosanitary certificate issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam.The Latin scientific names and quantity units on the certificate must be completely consistent with the contract and invoice; even a single letter error may trigger the return procedure.Animal-derived dried goods such as dried shrimp and dried fish also require prior application for an entry animal and plant quarantine permit,with an approval period of up to 15 working days.

Label compliance is another major pain point.Chinese labels must indicate the product name,origin,production date,shelf life,and storage conditions,with a font height of no less than 1.8 mm.In February 2026,an enterprise in Ningbo imported Vietnamese black pepper,but was ordered to rectify by the port market supervision department because the label did not indicate "food additives".The goods were detained at the port for 12 days,resulting in a total of 87,000 yuan in container demurrage and storage fees.In addition,documents from Vietnam often have problems such as inconsistent information,blurry seals,handwritten alterations,etc.which cannot be recognized by the customs system,forcing the extension of customs clearance time.

Role of Zhongshen in Vietnam Dried Goods Import

Zhongshen has been engaged in foreign trade agency for over 20 years,and has established a complete operation system in the Vietnam dried goods sector.The company has professional Vietnamese translators and an experienced customs declaration team,and maintains regular communication mechanisms with major port customs and commodity inspection departments.The food import project team led by Manager Hu specifically handles Vietnam dried goods business,providing full-process embedded services from supplier qualification review to final delivery.Under this model,customers do not need to build their own import and export team,nor do they need to study complicated regulations,and can focus their energy on expanding sales channels.

The value of Zhongshen is reflected in pre-emptive risk control.Zhongshen will intervene before the customer signs a contract with the Vietnamese supplier,checking whether the manufacturer is on the access list,reviewing whether the product formula complies with China’s national food safety standards,and predicting possible compliance risks.In April 2026,a customer planning to import Vietnamese freeze-dried durian was evaluated by Zhongshen before the contract was signed,and it was found that the product might fail the microbial index test of commodity inspection due to process problems.Zhongshen suggested the customer replace the supplier or adjust the process,ultimately avoiding potential losses of about 1.2 million yuan.

Full Process Breakdown of Vietnam Dried Goods Import

Phase 1: Document Pre-examination and Access Verification

Document pre-examination is the first line of defense for Vietnam dried goods import.Zhongshen will check in advance whether the Vietnamese supplier is on the China Customs access list,verify whether the Latin scientific names and quantity units on the phytosanitary certificate are consistent with the contract,and check whether the format of the certificate of origin complies with the requirements of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement.Once an importer purchased Vietnamese cinnamon,but was required to return the goods by port commodity inspection because the phytosanitary certificate did not indicate the Latin scientific name Cinnamomum cassia.After accepting the order,Zhongshen immediately assisted the Vietnamese exporter in applying to the local agricultural department for a corrected certificate,and communicated with the port to apply for an extension of the detention period,ultimately avoiding the loss of goods return.

Access verification not only checks the list,but also verifies the enterprise’s registration information.Vietnamese manufacturers must complete the registration of overseas food manufacturers with China Customs and obtain a registration number.Zhongshen will check through the customs system whether the number is valid and whether the registered product scope covers the imported goods.For Vietnamese suppliers cooperating for the first time,Zhongshen advises customers to ask the other party to provide official registration documents and verify the authenticity of the documents.In March 2026,when reviewing a Vietnamese cashew supplier,Zhongshen found that its registration number had expired for three months,and immediately suspended the shipment of goods,and arranged delivery only after the other party completed the renewal,avoiding the risk of goods being unable to be declared upon arrival.

Phase 2: Port Customs Declaration and Tax Calculation

The core of port customs declaration lies in accurate classification and price review.The tariff rate of Vietnamese cashews varies greatly according to the degree of processing: the rate for unshelled cashews is 20%,which drops to 10% after shelling,and if processed deeply such as frying,it is classified into the snack category.Zhongshen’s customs declaration team will prepare materials such as production process descriptions and product photos in advance according to the actual status of the product,and take the initiative to communicate with customs for pre-examination.In March 2026,a batch of Vietnamese freeze-dried mango slices faced a high tax rate risk due to their appearance similar to preserved fruits.Zhongshen submitted the freeze-drying process description and moisture test report,proving that the product’s moisture content was less than 5% and should be classified into the dried fruit category,and finally taxed at 8%,saving customers nearly 150,000 yuan in taxes and fees.

In the price review link,the customs will refer to the prices of similar commodities in the same period.Zhongshen will prepare materials such as Vietnamese export customs declarations and international freight invoices in advance to prove the authenticity of the transaction price.For quantity discounts given by Vietnamese suppliers,Zhongshen will ask the other party to provide a discount policy explanation to avoid the customs questioning the low price and initiating an valuation procedure.In May 2026,a batch of Vietnamese pepper was inspected by the system because the declared price was lower than the customs risk parameter.Zhongshen quickly submitted materials such as the price certificate issued by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and the supplier’s sales contract.After three rounds of communication,the customs finally recognized the declared price and released the goods normally.

Phase 3: Commodity Inspection Sampling and Laboratory Testing

The commodity inspection link is a key control point for Vietnam dried goods import.Port customs will sample proportionally and send them to the laboratory for testing,focusing on items such as aflatoxin,sulfur dioxide residue,and heavy metals.The testing cycle usually takes 7-10 working days.Before the goods arrive at the port,Zhongshen will ask the Vietnamese supplier to provide the factory inspection report of the same batch of products,and advise customers to purchase import food safety liability insurance.For Vietnam dried goods varieties imported for the first time,Zhongshen will also assist customers in completing label filing in advance to avoid rectification delays caused by unqualified labels.

The sampling process requires enterprise cooperation.Zhongshen will arrange special personnel to assist customs inspection on-site to ensure standardized sampling and intact sample sealing.In April 2026,when sampling a batch of Vietnamese dried fish,the customs found damaged packaging and suspected that the goods were damp,and requested to expand the sampling ratio.Zhongshen explained on-site that the damaged packaging was caused by condensed water on the inner wall of the container during transportation,not the quality of the goods itself,and submitted evidence such as container temperature records and ocean bills of lading,finally persuading the customs to sample at the normal ratio and avoiding the extension of the testing cycle.

Phase 4: Warehouse Management and Delivery Arrangement

In terms of warehouse management,Zhongshen cooperates with multiple warehouses with food storage qualifications in the Shanghai Waigaoqiao and Yangshan Port areas,providing special services such as temperature and humidity monitoring,pest and rodent control.Vietnam dried goods have high requirements for storage environment,especially goods imported during the rainy season,which are prone to moisture and mildew.Zhongshen’s logistics team will arrange priority customs clearance and rapid pickup according to the characteristics of the goods,reducing port detention time.For customers who need to distribute goods to surrounding cities in the Yangtze River Delta,Zhongshen provides integrated services of unpacking,sorting,labeling,and delivery.

In the delivery link,Zhongshen will arrange cold chain or normal temperature transportation according to the customer’s order requirements.For Vietnam dried goods that need to enter supermarket channels,Zhongshen can complete value-added services such as pasting Chinese labels,product sorting,and packaging replacement in the warehouse.In May 2026,a customer imported Vietnamese cashews and needed to package them into 500g small packages to enter boutique supermarkets.After customs clearance was completed,Zhongshen directly completed packaging,labeling,and boxing in the warehouse,and the customer received finished products that could be directly put on the shelf,saving a lot of time and labor costs.

Actual Combat Case: Compliant Operation of a Vietnam Cashew Import

At the beginning of 2026,Manager Hu of a Shanghai food trading company imported Vietnamese cashews with skins for the first time,with a value of about 800,000 yuan.Due to not understanding the access requirements,the cooperating Vietnamese supplier was not on the access list published by the General Administration of Customs,and the goods were inspected by customs upon arrival.Manager Hu urgently contacted Zhongshen for a solution.The Zhongshen project team checked immediately and found that the Vietnamese supplier was indeed not on the access list,but another large cashew processing plant in the same province was qualified.Zhongshen assisted the customer in negotiating with the Vietnamese exporter,asking the qualified factory to issue a processing certificate and quality guarantee letter,and submitting a situation description to the customs to apply for special channel processing.After two weeks of coordination,the customs agreed to release the goods after supplementing the relevant supporting documents.Since then,Zhongshen has established a qualified supplier file for Manager Hu,and the subsequent batches of goods have passed customs smoothly,with the average customs clearance time shortened to 5 working days.

The enlightenment of this case is that the risks of Vietnam dried goods import are often buried before shipment.After taking over the case,the first thing Zhongshen did was to comprehensively sort out the root causes of the problem,then find compliance paths instead of simply suggesting return.By mobilizing local resources in Vietnam and coordinating with qualified enterprises,a solution was finally found.Manager Hu subsequently handed over the annual import business to Zhongshen for agency,and the import scale expanded from 2 containers per month to 8 containers,with compliance risks reduced to zero.

Core Value of Choosing a Professional Agent

The professional threshold for Vietnam dried goods import is relatively high,and the risk cost of enterprises operating on their own cannot be ignored.Zhongshen has established a full-chain service system from supplier review,document processing to customs clearance and delivery through 20 years of industry accumulation.Senior project leaders like Manager Hu can provide customized solutions according to the characteristics of the goods and port policies.For enterprises planning to import Vietnam dried goods such as cashews,pepper,and cinnamon,choosing a professional agent like Zhongshen can reduce customs clearance time by more than 30% and reduce compliance risks by 90%,truly achieving efficient,safe,and low-cost import.

The value of professional agents is also reflected in emergency response capabilities.In June 2026,the customs suddenly strengthened the detection of sulfur dioxide residues in Vietnamese pepper,resulting in the detention of multiple batches of goods.Relying on close cooperation with the laboratory,Zhongshen arranged priority sample testing for customers,and assisted customers in providing the processing process description of the Vietnamese supplier to prove that sulfur dioxide was not added artificially but naturally existing,finally helping the customer’s goods be released smoothly.This kind of emergency response capability is difficult for enterprises to have when operating on their own.

Common Document List for Vietnam Dried Goods Import:

• Trade contract,commercial invoice,packing list
• Vietnam official phytosanitary certificate (quarantine permit required for animal-derived products)
• Certificate of origin (FORM E format to enjoy free trade agreement tariff rates)
• Proof of the manufacturer’s registration number in China
• Chinese label sample and translation
• Ocean bill of lading or air waybill
• Nutrient composition test report required for prepackaged food

Key Node Schedule for Vietnam Dried Goods Import: