How to Select an Import Cargo Agency? Check Whether These Four Core Service Capabilities Are Solid

European Dairy Imports: Why 90% of Enterprises Cannot Do Without Professional Agencies

In the first quarter of 2026,dairy import volume at Shanghai Port increased by 17% year-on-year,but cases of return and destruction also rose by 12% over the same period.Behind this figure,a large number of enterprises new to import business have stumbled over the access rules for European dairy products.A batch of cheese from a Dutch brand was returned in full because the Chinese label did not indicate the strain name,and German infant formula was detained at the port for two months because the Entry Animal and Plant Quarantine Permit was not processed in advance.These actual losses range from over 100,000 CNY to more than 1 million CNY.

The particularity of European dairy imports lies in the triple superposition: technical differences between EU food regulations and Chinese national standards,quarantine access for animal-derived products by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs,and strict review of formula registration and label compliance by the State Administration for Market Regulation.A batch of goods needs to cross at least six regulatory thresholds from leaving the factory to being put on shelves in China.After the implementation of the new Administrative Provisions on Registration of Overseas Food Production Enterprises for Imported Food in 2026,verification of the validity of the in-China registration number of overseas production enterprises has added another pre-checkpoint.Under this circumstance,the cost of building an in-house customs team for enterprises is much higher than entrusting an agency,and the professionalism of the agency directly determines whether the goods are released smoothly or returned on site.

Zhongshen’s Actual Role in the Import Chain

Zhongshen has been engaged in import customs declaration for 20 years,and has handled more than 3,000 dairy cases.Our role is not simply "running errands to submit documents",but the "general coordinator" and "risk filter" of the import chain.After the client signs the foreign trade contract,we first launch access risk assessment: check whether the production enterprise is included in the List of Dairy Products Exported to China from Countries or Regions Meeting the Assessment and Review Requirements published by the General Administration of Customs,confirm whether the product formula involves health food raw materials,and predict whether the label draft complies with the general rules for prepackaged food labels of GB 7718.

The value of this pre-action is that the customs inspection rate for dairy products remains at around 35% in 2026,but the inspection rate for batches pre-reviewed by us can be reduced to less than 15%.The reason is simple: we have achieved a document compliance rate of over 98% before the goods arrive at the port.Zhongshen’s customs team monitors the websites of the General Administration of Customs,the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs,and the State Administration for Market Regulation every day,and can respond to policy changes on the same day for the client’s in-transit goods.This real-time response capability is difficult for most enterprises’ in-house teams to match.

Import Process Breakdown: Key Nodes from Document Submission to Release

Stage 1: Document Pre-review and Access Assessment

The document complexity of European dairy imports far exceeds that of ordinary goods.A standard batch needs to prepare: certificate of origin,health certificate,component analysis report,production and processing workflow,foreign language label and translation,Entry Animal and Plant Quarantine Permit,and certificate of overseas production enterprise registration number.The new requirement added in 2026 is that all certificates must carry a QR code verified by EU official authorities,and the health certificate must clearly indicate the specific clauses of Chinese national standard GB 19644 or GB 25192 that the product complies with.

Zhongshen’s document pre-review process is as follows: after receiving the electronic documents from the client,we complete the preliminary screening within 24 hours.We focus on checking whether the product description on the health certificate is completely consistent with the contract,whether the additives in the component analysis report are in the list of permitted additives in China,and whether the nutrition fact table on the label meets the rounding interval requirements of GB 28050.Last year,we helped Ms.Jiang intercept a potential risk: the label of the Greek yogurt she purchased marked "rich in probiotics",but she failed to provide scientific literature support for the strain number.According to the new regulations of the State Administration for Market Regulation in 2026,this is a functional claim that requires health food registration.We required the supplier to modify the label and delete this statement,avoiding the risk of the goods being deemed unqualified after arriving at the port.

Stage 2: Port Customs Declaration and Tax Calculation

The core of the customs declaration link is accurate classification and origin determination.The tariff rates of European dairy products vary greatly: the tariff for fresh milk is 15%,for yogurt is 10%,and for cheese ranges from 8% to 12%.However,with a valid EU certificate of origin,most products can enjoy the agreed tariff rate reduced to 0%.Zhongshen’s customs specialists will carefully check whether the HS Code on the certificate of origin is consistent with that declared on the customs declaration form,ensuring that all preferential tariff rates are fully utilized.

In 2026,the number of customs price query cases has increased significantly,especially for cheese from niche European brands.The customs system automatically compares the import prices of similar products in the same period,and if the declared price is lower than the warning line,it will trigger a price verification.Zhongshen’s practice is to prepare price supporting materials before declaration,including the manufacturer’s ex-factory invoice,retail price screenshots of local European supermarkets,and international shipping cost details.Last month,a batch of Italian mozzarella cheese we represented encountered a price query.We submitted these materials on the spot,and the customs recognized the declared price on the same day,avoiding entering the lengthy consultation process.

Stage 3: Commodity Inspection Sampling and Laboratory Testing

The most difficult part of dairy import is the commodity inspection link.In 2026,the testing items for dairy products at Shanghai Port include: microbial indicators (total bacterial count,coliform,staphylococcus aureus,salmonella),pollutant limits (lead,mercury,arsenic),mycotoxins (aflatoxin M1),and veterinary drug residues (β-lactams,tetracyclines).The testing cycle usually takes 7-10 working days,but Zhongshen can reduce it to 5 working days through two measures: first,make an appointment for testing slots with the laboratory in advance,and second,ensure that the sample status meets the testing requirements during sampling.

The most difficult situation we encountered was that a batch of French butter was found to have excessive peroxide value during sampling.Ms.Jiang,the client,was very anxious,as this batch of goods was worth 800,000 CNY,and the loss would be huge if destroyed.After Zhongshen’s food safety team intervened,it was found that the problem was oxidation caused by temperature fluctuation of the container during transportation,not the quality problem of the product itself.We assisted the client in submitting the temperature record during transportation and the manufacturer’s stability test report to the customs,and applied for re-inspection.The final re-inspection result was qualified,and the goods were released.This case shows that the value of an agency lies not only in familiarity with the process,but also in the technical response ability when problems occur.

Stage 4: Warehousing,Logistics and Follow-up Supervision

Many people think that everything is fine once the customs releases the goods,but there are still follow-up supervision requirements for dairy products.According to 2026 regulations,imported dairy products can be officially sold only after obtaining the Inspection and Quarantine Certificate for Inbound Goods.Zhongshen will track the issuance progress of this certificate simultaneously,and the customs usually issues it within 3 working days after release.We will also remind clients that this certificate needs to be posted in the business premises,and import and sales records must be established for products within the shelf life,with the retention period no less than six months after the expiration of the product shelf life.

The risk in the warehousing link lies in temperature control.The bonded cold storages cooperating with Zhongshen are all equipped with a 24-hour temperature monitoring system,which will alarm if the temperature fluctuation exceeds ±2℃.We require the warehouse to record the temperature every 4 hours,and these data are important evidence during follow-up customs verification.Last summer,Shanghai experienced continuous 40℃ high temperature,and a batch of infant formula we represented had complete temperature control records during storage,and successfully passed the unannounced inspection of the market supervision department.

Real Case: How Ms.Jiang’s Cheese Import Dilemma Was Solved

Ms.Jiang is the procurement director of a Western food ingredient supplier in Pudong,Shanghai.At the beginning of 2026,she took a fancy to sheep cheese from a niche Spanish brand,and ordered 2,000 kg for the first batch,with a value of about 500,000 CNY.She had never done dairy import before,and thought it was enough as long as the foreign supplier could provide certificates.After the goods departed from the Port of Barcelona,she found Zhongshen.

After taking over,we found three fatal problems: first,the Spanish production enterprise has not been included in the registration list of overseas dairy production enterprises of the General Administration of Customs; second,the product name on the health certificate is "Queso de Cabra",which is literally translated as "goat cheese",but according to Chinese national standards,this product should be classified as "processed cheese",with different HS Code and tariff rate; third,the label marked "made by traditional process",which is a quality claim and requires process description documents.The goods had been at sea for 20 days and were expected to arrive at the port in a week.

Zhongshen launched an emergency plan: we assisted the Spanish manufacturer to apply for in-China registration on an urgent basis,and communicated with the Food Bureau of the General Administration of Customs to explain the official EU registration status of the enterprise to strive for temporary recognition.We asked Ms.Jiang to contact the supplier immediately to reissue the health certificate,and modify the product name to "goat milk processed cheese" according to Chinese national standards.For the label,we provided a template and asked the supplier to reprint Chinese labels that meet Chinese requirements,which were sent to Shanghai by international express before the goods arrived at the port.When the goods arrived at the port,all document problems had been solved,and it only took 4 working days from bill exchange to release.Ms.Jiang calculated: if she handled it by herself,the goods would be detained at the port for at least one month,and the total loss including storage fee,container detention fee and capital occupation cost would be 80,000 to 100,000 CNY.The agency fee was well worth it.

2026 Import Supervision Trends and Agency Selection Suggestions

In 2026,the supervision of imported dairy products presents three obvious trends: first,the degree of digitalization is deepening,the customs promotes the "intelligent document review" system,and document format errors will be automatically returned by the system; second,cross-departmental data sharing is strengthened,and the blacklists of the General Administration of Customs,the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs are synchronized in real time; third,post-event supervision is becoming stricter,importers are included in enterprise credit management,and one violation may affect the import qualification of all subsequent products.

Under this environment,choosing an agency cannot only depend on the quotation.Zhongshen suggests that enterprises focus on four aspects: first,whether the agency has a full-time dairy operation team,and whether the team members have dual qualifications of customs declarer and inspection declarer; second,whether it has the ability to handle abnormal cases,and can provide real crisis handling cases; third,whether the information system is advanced,and can realize electronic document circulation and real-time status query; fourth,whether the charge is transparent,and whether there are hidden charge items.The average agency fee in the industry in 2026 is between 0.8% and 1.2% of the cargo value,and excessively low quotations often mean service shrinkage.

Finally,we remind enterprises of one detail: in 2026,the customs requires that the registration information of overseas production enterprises of imported dairy products must be filed in the system before the goods arrive at the port,and the filing information must be completely consistent with the health certificate.A slight deviation in this link will lead to document return.Zhongshen’s customs system is interfaced with the "Overseas Food Production Enterprise Registration Management System for Imported Food" of the General Administration of Customs,which can realize batch query and automatic comparison of registration information.No more than five agencies in Shanghai have this capability.

Hiring an agency for imported goods is essentially paying for professional experience and risk coverage.Over the past 20 years,Zhongshen’s biggest insight is that there are no trivial matters in dairy import: a strain name,a temperature record,a punctuation mark,may all determine the fate of a batch of goods.When choosing an agency,you should not look at how nice the promises are,but whether someone can help you bear the responsibility when problems occur,and whether they have the ability to bear it.The regulatory environment in 2026 will only be stricter.Instead of exploring on your own and paying tuition fees,enterprises should find a reliable agency,leave professional matters to professional people,and focus on the market and sales themselves.