2026 Practical Guide to Full-Process Compliance for Food Import Customs Clearance Agency

Southeast Asian Tropical Fruit Import: New Pain Points of Port Clearance in 2026

In the first half of 2026,the import volume of Southeast Asian tropical fruits at Shanghai Port reached 182,000 tons,up 15% year on year.However,many local importers in Shanghai reported to Director He that a newly arrived batch of Thai durians was directly detained in the port supervision warehouse because the certificate of origin did not note "quarantine registered orchards for export to China".This not only generated daily storage fees,but also almost made them miss the pre-sale window of domestic e-commerce platforms.

Different from ordinary goods,Southeast Asian tropical fruits are classified as "high quarantine risk food".In 2026,China Customs further upgraded compliance requirements for their import: not only requiring document information to be completely accurate without any discrepancy,but also adding new clauses including mandatory traceability code submission and expanded pesticide residue testing items.Many small and medium-sized importers are not familiar with the new regulations,and often encounter problems such as document rejection and non-compliant testing results,which extend the average cargo detention period from 3 days to 7 days.

Core Value of Zhongshen: Pre-Risk Avoidance + Port Coordination

Zhongshen has focused on food import agency for more than 20 years.In 2026,it launched the "pre-audit + port coordination" model for Southeast Asian tropical fruit import,with the core of moving compliance audit from the port stage to the pre-shipment stage,helping more than 30 Shanghai enterprises avoid clearance risks similar to the durian case mentioned above.

Director He introduced that since 2026,Zhongshen has handled more than 120 batches of Southeast Asian fruit import business,among which 85% of enterprises revised their documents in advance through pre-audit,with clearance efficiency improved by more than 40%."Many enterprises think customs declaration is just filling in forms,but the key to fruit import is to identify potential risks in advance.For example,orchard registration numbers are updated every year,and one day of delayed awareness of the update may lead to the return of the entire batch of goods."

Full Process Breakdown of Food Import Customs Clearance: Taking Southeast Asian Tropical Fruits as an Example

I.Document Pre-Audit Stage: Lock Compliance Risks 10 Days in Advance

The first threshold for Southeast Asian tropical fruit import is complete and compliant documents.Core documents required by the customs in 2026 fall into 4 categories,3 of which have exclusive requirements:

• Certificate of registered orchard/packaging plant for export to China: Shall be included in the *List of Registered Orchards for Fruit Export to China* updated by the General Administration of Customs in 2026,and the orchard number shall correspond to the packaging plant information one by one;
• Phytosanitary certificate: Shall be marked with "for export to China",and clearly indicate the fruit variety,origin,orchard number and heat treatment process (mandatory for frozen fruits);
• Certificate of origin: Shall be completely consistent with the orchard number on the quarantine certificate,and issued by the official authority of the exporting country;
• Commercial invoice: Shall clearly indicate the fruit variety,grade,unit price and total amount,and vague expressions such as "tropical fruit" are not allowed.

How Zhongshen supports: 10 working days before the customer confirms cargo shipment,the document team led by Ms.Ren checks document details one by one.For example,in February 2026,a Shanghai fresh e-commerce enterprise imported Vietnamese red heart pitayas.During pre-audit,Zhongshen found that the phytosanitary certificate provided was not marked with "for export to China",and the orchard number was not updated as it had been cancelled in 2025.Zhongshen immediately coordinated with the Vietnamese supplier to reissue relevant certificates,and finally completed document audit 2 days ahead of the original schedule.

II.Port Customs Declaration Stage: Dual Verification of Traceability Code and Supervision Conditions

The core change of port customs declaration in 2026 is mandatory traceability code submission.All Southeast Asian fruits shall be submitted with electronic traceability codes covering the full chain of "orchard - packaging plant - port" synchronously during customs declaration,otherwise they cannot enter the clearance process.In addition,the "supervision condition" column of the customs declaration form shall be checked with "A" (entry goods clearance form),and the "commodity name" column shall clearly indicate the specific variety,for example "Thai Musang King durian" instead of "durian".

How Zhongshen supports: Arrange dedicated staff to connect with the customs broker at Shanghai Yangshan Port,enter traceability code information into the customs system in advance,and follow up the declaration progress on site.Once a customer’s Malaysian Musang King durians had inconsistent traceability code and packaging plant information,Zhongshen’s team coordinated with the quarantine authority for re-verification within 1 hour,avoiding daily storage fees of 2,000 RMB caused by cargo detention in the supervision warehouse.

III.Commodity Inspection Stage: 3 New Pesticide Residue Testing Items Added in 2026

Entry inspection and quarantine is the last checkpoint for Southeast Asian fruit import.There are 3 key updates to quarantine requirements in 2026 compared with 2025,with specific changes as follows:

How Zhongshen supports: Make testing appointment with Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau in advance,and arrange dedicated staff to follow up the testing progress.In March 2026,a batch of Thai mangosteens imported by a Shanghai trading company was detected with excessive acetamiprid residue.Zhongshen’s team immediately assisted to provide the supplier’s pesticide use records to prove it was a false detection,and coordinated re-inspection.The goods were finally released within 3 days,avoiding the destruction of the cargo which would have caused a loss of about 150,000 RMB.

Case: Saving a Loss of 200,000 RMB

In April 2026,a Shanghai trading company planned to import 10 tons of Malaysian Musang King durians for the May Day e-commerce pre-sale,with a target sales volume of 500,000 RMB.However,after the goods arrived at the port,the customs found that the phytosanitary certificate did not indicate the heat treatment process for frozen durian,which the 2026 new regulation requires to clearly note "heat treatment at above 70℃ for 30 minutes",and directly issued a pending verification notice.

The company contacted Zhongshen urgently,and Ms.Ren’s team took immediate action: on one hand,coordinate with the Malaysian exporter to supplement the heat treatment certificate issued by the local quarantine authority,on the other hand,connect with Shanghai Customs to prioritize the review of supplementary materials.Finally,customs clearance was completed on April 28,catching up with the May Day pre-sale,helping the customer save about 200,000 RMB of potential sales loss.

Conclusion: Professional Agency is a Rigid Demand for Food Import in 2026

The core contradiction of food import customs clearance in 2026 has shifted from "whether clearance can be completed" to "whether clearance can be completed efficiently and compliantly".With more than 20 years of industry accumulation,Zhongshen can not only accurately grasp the latest quarantine standards for foods including Southeast Asian fruits,but also help enterprises avoid more than 90% of clearance risks in advance through the full-process linkage of pre-audit,customs declaration and commodity inspection,while shortening the average clearance time from 72 hours to less than 48 hours.

For import enterprises in Shanghai,choosing a professional agency is not only a cost consideration to reduce storage fees and avoid cargo return,but also a necessary choice to cope with the upgraded food import compliance requirements in 2026.After all,the freshness of fruits is profit,and one day of delayed clearance may lead to losses of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of RMB.