Xi'an Food Import Customs Clearance Agency: Full Analysis of 2026 Compliance Operations

Xi’an Food Import Customs Clearance: 2026 Market Background and Core Difficulties

In 2026,as a China-Europe Railway Express assembly center and inland open highland under the Belt and Road Initiative,Xi’an has witnessed explosive growth in food import business.In the first half of the year alone,the import volume of pre-packaged food,frozen meat,tropical fruits and other categories at Xi’an ports increased by 18% year on year,with European dairy products and Southeast Asian tropical fruits accounting for over 60% of the total.Many local food traders and distributors in Xi’an try to import goods on their own,but often get stuck on three core difficulties: document compliance,quarantine process adaptation,and port operation connection.

Taking the import of dark chocolate from Germany as an example,Mr.Lai,head of a food trading company in Xi’an,encountered typical problems.At the end of 2025,he tried to handle customs declaration on his own for the first time.He ignored the Revision of EU REACH Regulation on Food Contact Materials that took effect in January 2026,and the aluminum foil packaging test report provided by the supplier did not meet China’s GB 4806.9 standard,resulting in the documents being returned by Xi’an Customs.Meanwhile,the Chinese label was not filed with the local Xi’an commodity inspection authority in advance,so the goods were detained at Xianyang International Airport Port for 3 days,incurring nearly 2,000 yuan in storage fees alone.Similar compliance loopholes and process disconnections are common pain points for food import enterprises in Xi’an.

Core Value of Zhongshen in Xi’an Food Import Agency Services

Zhongshen has been deeply engaged in the foreign trade agency industry for over 20 years.In response to the regional characteristics of Xi’an food import (multiple inland ports,high demand for cold chain transportation via China-Europe Railway Express) and category characteristics (high proportion of pre-packaged food,strict quarantine requirements),it has formed a full-process service system of "pre-audit + port docking + commodity inspection coordination".Its core values lie in avoiding policy change risks in advance,shortening port operation cycles,and reducing labor and time costs for enterprises.In the first half of 2026,the average customs clearance time of Xi’an food import business handled by Zhongshen was 4.2 days faster than the industry average,and the document return rate was only 1.2% (the industry average is 8.7%).

Full Process Disassembly and Compliance Key Points of Xi’an Food Import Customs Clearance

Food import customs clearance is not a "single link operation",but involves three core stages: document pre-audit,port customs declaration,and commodity inspection and release.Each stage has special compliance requirements for food categories.Zhongshen’s intervention in each link can accurately solve the practical problems of Xi’an enterprises.

1.Document Pre-audit Stage: Avoid Compliance Loopholes in Advance

In 2026,Xi’an Customs has further refined the audit standards for food import documents.For pre-packaged food alone,11 types of core documents are required,3 of which are food-specific mandatory requirements:

• Official health certificate of the exporting country,which must include a clear statement that "the food meets China’s food safety standards";
• Ingredient analysis form,which must indicate whether the additives comply with China’s GB2760 Food Additives Use Standard;
• Chinese label filing certificate,which requires filing with Shaanxi Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau 3 working days in advance for Xi’an local business.

Zhongshen’s practice is to require suppliers to provide the first draft of all documents 7-10 days before the goods are shipped,and the document specialists of its Xi’an local team will check them one by one.For example,in response to the provision in the 2026 revised GB 2760 that "the use scope of erythritol is extended to chocolate",the specialists will focus on checking whether the ingredient list is marked in compliance.For durian imported from Southeast Asia,they will check whether the "orchard filing number" provided by the exporting country is in the valid list of Xi’an Commodity Inspection Bureau.

2.Port Customs Declaration Stage: Adapt to the Characteristics of Xi’an Inland Ports

Xi’an’s food import ports are mainly divided into three categories (see the table below).The customs declaration procedures and time limit requirements vary greatly among different ports.Zhongshen has developed exclusive plans according to the operation characteristics of each port:

Taking the import of frozen beef via China-Europe Railway Express as an example,the port of Xi’an International Port District requires that "the railway waybill and customs manifest data are completely consistent".However,some suppliers only mark "frozen meat" on the waybill without specifying the "beef part",which leads to frequent requests for supplementary materials when enterprises handle customs declaration on their own.Zhongshen’s Xi’an team will connect with the railway department and the customs pre-entry center in advance to ensure 100% matching of waybill and manifest information and avoid data delay.

3.Commodity Inspection and Release Stage: Focus on Special Requirements for Food Quarantine

The key quarantine points for food import of Xi’an Commodity Inspection Bureau vary according to categories.Zhongshen will coordinate quarantine resources in advance according to the type of goods:

• Pre-packaged food: Focus on checking label compliance,which must include 12 mandatory information such as nutrition composition table,country of origin,shelf life,etc.Zhongshen will submit the electronic version of the label to the commodity inspection authority for pre-audit in advance to avoid rework due to label problems after on-site sampling;
• Imported fruits: Quarantine pests such as Mediterranean fruit fly and Bactrocera dorsalis need to be detected.Xi’an Commodity Inspection Bureau requires that air-freighted fruits be sampled within 24 hours.Zhongshen will contact the commodity inspection sampling personnel in advance and arrange for them to arrive at the port 1 hour before the goods arrive;
• Dairy products: Indicators such as melamine and aflatoxin M1 need to be detected.Zhongshen will assist enterprises in providing the "imported dairy product filing number" to speed up the testing process.

In March 2026,a cross-border e-commerce company in Xi’an imported a batch of durians from Thailand.As durian is a "high-risk quarantine category",the company was worried that the sampling and testing time would be too long leading to fruit deterioration when operating on its own.Zhongshen communicated with Xi’an Commodity Inspection Bureau 3 days in advance and coordinated a "green channel".Sampling was completed within 2 hours after the goods arrived at the port,and the test results were issued within 48 hours.Finally,the freshness of the fruits remained above 95% with no loss.

Case: How Zhongshen Helps Xi’an Enterprises Avoid Import Risks

In April 2026,Mr.Lai of a food trading company in Xi’an planned to import a batch of Italian espresso powder with a total value of about 120,000 yuan.Mr.Lai had been delayed due to document problems before,so he specially entrusted Zhongshen as the agent this time.

Zhongshen found two key problems during document pre-audit:

• The health certificate provided by the supplier did not indicate that "the coffee powder meets China’s GB7099 Hygienic Standard for Cakes and Bread";
• The "caffeine content" on the Chinese label was marked as "0.5%",but not converted to "content per 100g" (a mandatory marking requirement of Xi’an Commodity Inspection Bureau).

Zhongshen immediately contacted the Italian supplier,requested to supplement the health certificate meeting Chinese standards,and assisted in redesigning the Chinese label.At the same time,it completed the cross-border e-commerce enterprise filing at Xi’an Comprehensive Bonded Zone 3 days in advance.Customs declaration and commodity inspection release were completed within 1 day after the goods arrived at the port,6 days earlier than the expected time limit,avoiding the risk of return due to label problems (the return cost is about 15% of the cargo value).

Summary: Core Value of Zhongshen for Xi’an Food Import Enterprises

In 2026,the competition in Xi’an’s food import market has shifted from "price war" to "compliance and efficiency war".Enterprises not only need to control costs,but also need to avoid customs clearance delays and compliance risks caused by policy changes and document errors.With over 20 years of industry experience,Zhongshen provides a full-process service of "pre-audit + port docking + commodity inspection coordination" tailored to the operation characteristics of Xi’an inland ports and the quarantine requirements for food categories,helping enterprises to:

• Avoid compliance loopholes under the new policies of 2026 in advance;
• Shorten the customs clearance time by 3-5 days,and reduce the cost of storage and cargo loss;
• Reduce the risk of return and fine caused by document errors.

For food import enterprises in Xi’an,choosing a professional agency company is not only "saving manpower",but also the key to "ensuring stable business growth".As Mr.Lai said: "In the past,I handled customs declaration by myself and was always worried about problems every day.Now I hand it over to Zhongshen,and I only need to focus on market sales,which is worry-free and reassuring."