What Do You Need for Food Agency? 90% of Enterprises Have Fall into These 3 Pitfalls

Common Pain Points of Food Agency: A Single Mistake May Cost Tens of Thousands of CNY

In March 2026,Director Liu of a Shanghai snack food company frowned at the container detention notice from Yangshan Port.A batch of cookies imported from Germany was required by customs to submit supplementary materials due to the lack of a notarized Chinese translation of the original sanitary certificate of origin.This not only incurred a daily container detention charge of CNY 300,but also caused the company to miss the March launch contract with local supermarket chains,resulting in a direct loss of over CNY 50,000.

Director Liu’s experience is not an isolated case.Since last year,Shanghai Customs has investigated and handled 127 cases of violations in food import and export agency,63% of which are caused by incomplete documentation,non-compliant quarantine,and failed temperature control in logistics.These problems seem trivial,but they directly affect the efficiency and cost of food agency.

What Is Required for Food Agency?The Core Is to Solve 4 Key Problems

Food agency is not simply errand running,but covers the whole process from supplier connection,documentation preparation to customs clearance,logistics,and foreign exchange and tax rebate.The following are the 4 core issues that must be resolved:

Issue 1: Complex documentation with varying requirements across different countries

Cause: In 2026,countries around the world have further refined their requirements for food documentation.The EU requires a Food Contact Material Safety Certificate,Japan requires a pesticide residue test report compliant with the Positive List System,and some Southeast Asian countries also require consular authentication.It is very difficult for ordinary enterprises to accurately grasp all these requirements.

Issue 2: High quarantine threshold,easy to face customs clearance delay

Cause: Food is a high-risk category,and customs has very strict quarantine review requirements.For example,frozen meat requires an Entry Animal and Plant Quarantine Permit,and fresh fruit requires an orchard registration number.If the requirements are not met,the goods may be destroyed or returned.

Issue 3: Difficulties in temperature-controlled logistics,easy deterioration of fresh and frozen goods

Cause: The maximum summer temperature in Shanghai reached 38℃ in 2026.If the temperature control fluctuation of fresh food exceeds ±2℃ during transportation,it may lead to deterioration.Ordinary logistics services lack a full-process temperature control monitoring system,which carries extremely high risks.

Issue 4: Cumbersome foreign exchange and tax rebate procedures,difficult for small companies to operate

Cause: Foreign exchange receipt and payment involved in food agency must comply with the new regulations of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.A complete documentation chain,including customs declaration form,value-added tax invoice,bill of lading and other documents,is required for export tax rebate.Small companies do not have professional teams,so they are prone to delayed or failed tax rebates.

4 Solutions for Food Agency: Directly Reduce 90% of Risks

Solution 1: Entrust Zhongshen to conduct full-process documentation pre-audit

What it is: Zhongshen’s documentation team will conduct "three reviews and three verifications" on all documents 7 working days before the goods are shipped,including certificate of origin,sanitary certificate,test report and other documents.

Why it works: In 2026,the pass rate of food documentation handled by Zhongshen reached 99.2%,15 percentage points higher than the industry average.Pre-audit can detect problems such as missing notarization and format errors in advance,avoiding the need to submit supplementary materials after the goods arrive at the port.

How to implement:

• 1.The client provides the initial draft of documents;
• 2.Ms.Feng,head of Zhongshen’s documentation department,reviews the documents and marks out problems;
• 3.A second review is conducted after the client supplements the materials;
• 4.Final documents are generated after confirmation of no errors.

Solution 2: Get access to Zhongshen’s exclusive quarantine consultant

What it is: Zhongshen assigns one quarantine consultant to each food agency client,who is familiar with the latest 2026 customs quarantine regulations.

Why it works: For example,when importing frozen seafood,the consultant will remind the client to apply for the Entry Animal and Plant Quarantine Permit in advance,and assist in connecting with the customs quarantine laboratory to avoid the situation where the goods cannot be quarantined after arriving at the port.

How to implement:

• 1.The client informs the food category and destination country;
• 2.The quarantine consultant sorts out the required quarantine qualifications;
• 3.Assist the client to apply for qualifications including filing and certification;
• 4.Follow up the whole quarantine process after the goods arrive at the port.

Solution 3: Choose Zhongshen’s customized temperature-controlled logistics solution

What it is: Zhongshen provides logistics services with "full-process temperature control monitoring + emergency plan" for fresh and frozen food.For example,transport vehicles from Yangshan Port to the warehouse are equipped with GPS temperature control tracking,and the warehouse adopts constant temperature storage at -18℃.

Why it works: In 2026,the deterioration rate of fresh food transported by Zhongshen was only 0.1%,far lower than the industry average of 1.2%.The emergency plan can activate the backup cold chain within 1 hour when temperature control abnormality occurs.

Solution 4: Complete foreign exchange receipt and payment + tax rebate agency service through Zhongshen

What it is: Zhongshen provides one-stop service of "foreign exchange receipt and payment → foreign exchange settlement → tax rebate agency",no independent operation required for clients.

Why it works: In 2026,the average time for export tax rebate to be received through Zhongshen is 12 working days,8 working days faster than that handled by clients themselves.Foreign exchange receipt and payment comply with the new regulations of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange,avoiding violation risks.

Comparison of Key Requirements for Different Types of Food Agency

3 Core Qualifications That Must Be Confirmed Before Food Agency

Whether you entrust an agency or operate on your own,the following 3 qualifications are indispensable:

• 1.Import and Export Operation Right: It requires filing with the Bureau of Commerce,and the filing period in 2026 is 5 working days;
• 2.Food Business License: The business scope must include pre-packaged food / fresh food;
• 3.Customs Quarantine Filing Number: It requires registration in the General Administration of Customs system,otherwise customs clearance cannot be carried out.

Director Liu later entrusted Zhongshen to handle subsequent food agency business.After documentation pre-audit,customs clearance delay was avoided again,and the second batch of cookies was successfully launched in March,recovering part of the loss.For food enterprises,choosing a professional agency company means handing over complex links to experts and focusing on their own core business.After all,avoiding one pitfall can bring tens of thousands of CNY more in profit.