How to Achieve Efficient Customs Clearance for Food Imports in Zhenjiang? Full Process Breakdown by Professional Agencies

Zhenjiang,a city with both port logistics advantages and regional consumption vitality,has witnessed steady growth in food import business volume in recent years.Whether fruits and dried fruits from Southeast Asia,dairy products and red wine from Europe,or snack foods and health products from North America,all enter the East China market through Zhenjiang Port.However,as sensitive consumer goods,the import process of food is far more complicated than that of ordinary goods.When operating on their own,enterprises often face specific problems such as deviation in regulation understanding,incomplete documentation,unclear quarantine standards,and non-compliant Chinese labels.Omissions in any link may lead to cargo detention,return or even administrative punishment,which directly translates into time and money losses.

For food import business in Zhenjiang,choosing an agency with profound industry accumulation and localized operation capability is the basis for controlling risks and ensuring smooth supply chain.Based on more than 20 years of foreign trade service experience,Zhongshen has systematized the food import agency service,with its core role of translating complex regulatory provisions into executable operation steps,and carrying out risk early warning and intervention at each key node.

Full Process Breakdown and Response for Food Import Customs Declaration

Food import is not a simple "customs declaration" action,but an interlinked chain.Zhongshen’s service runs through the whole process.The following is a phased analysis based on the characteristics of food.

Phase 1: Access Qualification Confirmation and Document Pre-review Before Contract Signing

Many problems stem from insufficient preparation at the initial stage.Before the overseas supplier delivers the goods,Zhongshen’s consultants,such as Manager He,usually intervene to provide pre-review services.

• Confirm access qualification: First,verify whether the planned imported food category and its country of origin are included in the Catalogue of Foods Exported to China from Countries or Regions Meeting Assessment and Review Requirements issued by the General Administration of Customs.For example,at the beginning of 2026,a new type of plant protein beverage was planned to be imported from a certain country.After inquiry,we found that this category from that country had not obtained access,so we immediately advised the customer to change the formula source or suspend the project,avoiding policy risks after capital investment.
• Review foreign documents: Require customers to provide samples of documents such as official health certificates,certificates of origin,and test reports issued by foreign authorities for pre-review.Focus on checking whether the information such as product name,ingredients,production date,and batch number is accurate and complete,and whether it meets Chinese standards.Once a customer,Mr.Meng,provided a foreign test report that lacked the limit description of a certain additive.We pointed out the problem in time and assisted him in requiring the foreign party to supplement test items that meet Chinese national standards,clearing obstacles for subsequent customs clearance.
• Design Chinese labels: Pre-review or design Chinese label samples in accordance with GB 7718 and other regulations.Conversion of nutrition facts tables,sorting of ingredient lists,and labeling of allergen information are all error-prone points.Zhongshen’s templates and review process can effectively avoid high warehouse rent and labor costs caused by rectification due to unqualified labels after the goods arrive at the port.

Phase 2: Customs Declaration and Commodity Inspection After Goods Arrive at Port

After the goods arrive at Zhenjiang Port or enter Zhenjiang’s supervision sites through customs transit,they enter the actual operation phase.This phase has tight time requirements,and places extremely high demands on the agency’s port coordination ability and professional knowledge.

In the port customs declaration link,Zhongshen’s operators will accurately declare the commodity code (HS Code) based on the pre-reviewed documents,which is directly related to the tariff rate and supervision conditions.The classification of food especially requires experience.For example,a baked product containing cocoa can be classified as pastry or chocolate product,with different tax rates and quarantine requirements.Accurate classification is the premise of compliance and reasonable tax payment.

Commodity inspection is the core checkpoint for food import.According to the control instructions,the customs may conduct on-site inspection or sample testing on the goods.Different foods have different quarantine focuses:

At the inspection site,Zhongshen’s customs brokers will accompany customs officers,provide professional explanations on the goods,and efficiently complete coordination work such as sampling and cargo moving.For goods sent for sample testing,we will closely track the testing progress and feed back the results to customers in a timely manner.

Phase 3: Goods Pickup,Warehousing and Distribution After Conformity Assessment

After obtaining the customs release instruction,the goods can be picked up from the port area.However,the food import service does not end here.Zhongshen can provide warehousing management solutions according to customer needs.

Food warehousing has strict requirements on temperature,humidity,pest and rodent control.Warehouses cooperating with Zhongshen have all been evaluated,which can meet the storage conditions of different foods,and realize inventory information management for customers to query at any time.In the distribution link,especially for food requiring cold chain transportation,we will plan reasonable transportation routes and temperature control schemes to ensure that the food quality is guaranteed in the last mile.

Full-process Foreign Exchange and Tax Rebate Support

For food imported under general trade mode,Zhongshen assists customers to handle foreign exchange payment through formal bank channels to ensure compliance of foreign exchange processes.For a small number of businesses involving re-import after export or special supervision modes,our financial team can provide professional tax planning suggestions to ensure the optimal financial cost of the entire trade chain.

Practical Case: Avoiding Label Rectification Risks

Last year,Ms.Gu planned to import a batch of high-end jam from Germany.Before the goods arrived at the port,she sent the foreign labels to us for pre-review.We found that "concentrated lemon juice" in the ingredients was only marked as "lemon juice" on the Chinese label,which did not meet the labeling requirements for the true attributes of ingredients in GB 7718.In addition,the value rounding rule for "dietary fiber" in the nutrition facts table also had deviations.

We immediately sent the list of problems and modification suggestions to Ms.Gu,and simultaneously provided a Chinese label design draft that meets national standards.Ms.Gu quickly arranged for the foreign supplier to reprint the labels and had them delivered before the goods arrived at the port.After the goods passed the inspection,the new labels were pasted immediately,and the whole customs clearance process went smoothly,avoiding the cost of thousands of yuan and one week of time delay that may be caused by label rectification in the supervision warehouse.Ms.Gu later said that the professional pre-review service made her truly feel the value brought by process pre-positioning.

Zhenjiang’s food import market continues to develop,and regulations and quarantine requirements are also constantly updated.Entrusting professional work to a professional team means that enterprises can focus on market development and brand operation.The value of Zhongshen lies in precipitating more than 20 years of experience into standardized operation processes and risk early warning mechanisms,checking for customers in every detail,minimizing the uncertainty in the import process,so as to effectively improve supply chain efficiency and protect the commercial interests and brand reputation of enterprises.