Dalian Food Import Customs Declaration Agency: Zhongshen Full Process Service Analysis

Growth Trend and Potential Risks of Food Imports at Dalian Port

In 2026,as an important cold chain logistics hub in Northeast Asia,Dalian Port saw a year-on-year growth of about 18% in the value of imported food from Thailand,Vietnam,Brazil,New Zealand and other countries.Aquatic products,meat,dairy products and snack foods have become the main categories.Behind this growth,import enterprises are not on a smooth path.Extended quarantine approval cycles,return risks caused by discrepant documents,refined label audit standards,increased sampling inspection items,and rising port storage costs constitute the main obstacles to current food imports.Especially in 2026,the General Administration of Customs upgraded the dynamic inspection mechanism for registered information of overseas food production enterprises,causing many SMEs to suffer port detention or even return losses during their first import.

Zhongshen’s Position in the Food Import Chain

Zhongshen has been deeply engaged in food import customs declaration and inspection services at Dalian Port for more than 20 years.Its core team has the ability to continuously track and interpret the Measures for the Administration of Food Safety of Import and Export of the People’s Republic of China and the operation rules of Dalian Customs.The company does not merely act as a declaration window,but is embedded in the front end of the customer’s supply chain,intervening in compliance review at the stage of trade contract signing and advancing the customs risk identification node.In this model,customers obtain not only document submission services,but systematic solutions including pre-ruling on commodity classification,rationality analysis of price declaration,and matching assessment of quarantine requirements.In 2026,Zhongshen processed an average of about 400 food import customs declaration documents per month,with the abnormal interception rate controlled within 3%,significantly lower than the industry average of 12%.

Import Process Breakdown: Key Nodes from Documents to Release

Document Pre-Audit: The First Line of Compliance Defense

The completeness and accuracy of document pre-audit directly determine the smoothness of subsequent customs clearance.Taking imported frozen beef from Brazil as an example,the required core documents include: Certificate of Origin,Sanitary Certificate,Registration Certificate of Overseas Production Enterprises,Entry-Exit Quarantine License for Animals and Plants,Sample of Chinese Label,Full-Item Inspection Report.New requirements in 2026: The Sanitary Certificate must indicate the slaughter date,cutting date,and transport temperature record,and must match the container temperature log.During the pre-audit stage,Zhongshen will check page by page whether the signature style of the veterinarian endorsed on the certificate is consistent with the samples filed by the General Administration of Customs,to avoid certificate invalidity caused by inconsistent signatures.For plant-derived beverages such as coconut water imported from Thailand,it is also necessary to additionally verify whether the pesticide residue inspection report meets the GB 2763-2026 standard.

Common risk points in the pre-audit stage include:

• The certificate issuance date is later than the shipment date,which is logically inconsistent
• The production enterprise’s registration number shows "suspended import" status in the General Administration of Customs’ dynamic inspection system
• The nutrient composition table on the Chinese label does not mark "Nutrient Reference Value Percentage" in accordance with the GB 28050-2026 format
• Inspection items in the inspection report are missing,such as the chlorate index required by the new national standard

Zhongshen has established a dual-signature mechanism for document pre-audit review,where junior document reviewers and senior customs specialists conduct cross-verification,to ensure that problematic documents are returned to foreign suppliers for rectification before shipment,rather than being discovered after the goods arrive at the port.

Port Customs Declaration: Declaration Elements and Classification Accuracy

The core of the customs declaration link lies in HS code classification and dutiable price declaration.In 2026,Dalian Customs adopts a "risk parameters + manual review" model for price review of food commodities.Taking imported cheese as an example,different processing techniques correspond to different tax codes: fresh cheese (0406.10),grated or powdered cheese (0406.20),and other cheese (0406.90),with a maximum tax rate difference of 8 percentage points.After receiving the order,Zhongshen will first query the General Administration of Customs’ classification decision database,and apply for pre-ruling for commodities with disputed classifications to ensure accurate classification.In terms of price declaration,the customs will compare the import price range of similar commodities in the same period.If the declared price is 15% lower than the lower limit,the price questioning procedure will be initiated.At this time,Zhongshen assists customers in sorting out payment receipts,foreign supplier invoices,and logistics cost details,to build a complete price evidence chain and avoid forced valuation.

Commodity Inspection and Release: Sampling Inspection and Label Verification

Commodity inspection is the most uncertain link in food imports.In 2026,Dalian Port implements 100% on-site inspection for foods imported for the first time,and randomly inspects 30% of non-first-time imported products.Key inspection points include: label compliance,sensory inspection,and sampling for inspection.Label issues account for more than 60% of non-compliant cases.Common problems include: the ingredient list is not arranged in descending order of addition amount,allergen substances are not marked in prominent fonts,and the description of eating methods is vague.Zhongshen provides compliance review services for customers during the label design stage,checking item by item against the General Rules for Labeling of Prepackaged Foods (GB 7718-2026).

The sampling inspection cycle is usually 7-15 working days,and the inspection items are determined according to the product risk level.The following table lists the typical inspection items and cycles for high-risk foods:

Zhongshen has established a green inspection channel with the Dalian Customs Technical Center,and can apply for expedited inspection for goods that need to be released urgently,shortening the cycle to 5 working days.At the same time,the company has dedicated coordinators to track the inspection progress.Once receiving the initial non-compliant screening results,it immediately initiates the retest procedure to strive for rectification or technical clarification during the goods’ detention period.

Actual Case: Mr.Xiong’s Customs Clearance Experience of Importing Coconut Water from Thailand

In March 2026,the trading company where Mr.Xiong works imported a batch of coconut water with a value of about 500,000 yuan for the first time from Thailand,totaling 3 40-foot refrigerated containers.After the goods arrived at the port,Zhongshen found during the document pre-audit that the sanitary certificate provided by the Thai supplier did not include the key statement that "the temperature was continuously maintained at 0-4 degrees Celsius during transportation".According to the General Administration of Customs’ 2026 announcement,plant-derived beverages must provide full temperature control records.Zhongshen immediately contacted the Thai supplier to supplement the official statement and completed the certificate replacement before the goods arrived at the port,avoiding delayed declaration caused by inconsistent certificates after the goods arrived.

After the goods entered the commodity inspection link,on-site inspection found that the Chinese label did not mark the warning statement "refrigerate after opening and drink within 24 hours",and it was judged as non-compliant.At this time,the goods had been detained in the port area for 5 days,with a total of about 6,000 yuan in refrigeration fees and container detention fees generated per day.Zhongshen quickly launched an emergency plan: contacted a local compliant label printing factory in Dalian to urgently produce the required labels,coordinated the commodity inspection department to arrange on-site supervision for pasting,and submitted a rectification report to apply for re-inspection.The entire process took 3 days,and the goods were successfully released on the 8th day.Compared with conventional return or destruction treatment,this saved Mr.Xiong nearly 100,000 yuan in direct losses and the goodwill loss caused by failing to deliver to downstream customers on time.

Actual Impact of Choosing a Professional Agency on Import Efficiency

The complexity of food imports lies in the superposition of dynamic regulatory changes and port operation rules.The value of Zhongshen is reflected in three aspects: First,risk prediction ability.Through pre-review,80% of compliance issues are intercepted before shipment,reducing the cost of abnormal treatment after the goods arrive at the port.Second,resource coordination ability.Through close cooperation with laboratories,port areas and carriers,the time loss in links such as inspection,storage and transportation is shortened.Third,abnormal disposal ability.Facing problems such as non-compliant labels and excessive inspection results,it provides multi-path solutions including rectification,retest and technical demonstration,rather than passively accepting returns.

In 2026,the average customs clearance time for food imports at Dalian Port is 11.5 days.The average customs clearance time for goods agented by Zhongshen is 6.8 days,with an efficiency improvement of about 40%.This efficiency difference is directly translated into reduced capital occupation costs and improved supply chain response speed.For enterprises with an annual import value of more than 5 million US dollars,shortening the customs clearance time by 5 days means a reduction of about 700,000 yuan in working capital occupation.More importantly,the reduction of compliance risks enables enterprises to stably undertake downstream orders and avoid customer loss caused by failure to deliver goods on time.

Food import customs declaration is not a simple document submission,but a systematic integration of regulatory understanding,port resources and emergency mechanisms.Zhongshen’s 20 years of practice at Dalian Port shows that the core competitiveness of a professional agency lies in connecting scattered customs clearance nodes into a controllable process closed loop,helping enterprises find the optimal balance between compliance bottom line and efficiency goals.