Analysis of Core Links of Freight Forwarding for Smart Home Export to EU

<h2 class="tit-1">Smart Home Export to EU in 2026: Policy Barriers Behind Booming Market Demand</h2>Data from the first quarter of 2026 shows that the size of the EU smart home market has exceeded 18 billion euros,with a year-on-year growth of 12.3%.Among them,the growth rate of categories such as smart speakers and smart locks exceeds 15%.At the end of last year,Mr.Xiao from a Shanghai technology company received an order of 3,000 smart locks destined for Germany,but encountered difficulties when preparing for export.The updated CE certification requirements released by the EU in 2025 added new test items for Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC),and his previous test report has expired.Meanwhile,German customs requires a **Carbon Footprint Declaration (CFD)** for products,which he has never dealt with before.Cases similar to Mr.Xiao’s are not rare.According to statistics from the European Trade Association,in the first half of 2026,the customs clearance delay rate of Chinese smart home export enterprises caused by non-compliance with policies reached 18.7%,an increase of 4.2 percentage points compared with 2025.Some enterprises failed to update CE certification test items in time,and were required by EU customs to conduct re-testing,with the testing fee for a single batch of goods exceeding 20,000 RMB.Other enterprises had goods detained at the port for up to 14 days due to missing carbon footprint declaration.<h2 class="tit-1">Core Value of Zhongshen’s EU Export Agency — Accurately Match Policies and Enterprise Demands</h2>In response to the policy complexity of the EU market,Zhongshen’s export agency service does not adopt a "one-size-fits-all" approach.Instead,it focuses on three core principles: "preliminary policy review + seamless connection of links + risk prediction" to solve the actual pain points of enterprises.Taking Mr.Xiao’s order as an example,Supervisor Wen from Zhongshen checked the validity of the CE certification of the smart lock immediately after receiving the demand,and pointed out that the test report did not include the 2025 version of EMC test items.Meanwhile,he assisted the enterprise in filling out the carbon footprint declaration template required by Germany,avoiding subsequent customs clearance delays.Supervisor Wen mentioned that Zhongshen has been deeply engaged in foreign trade agency for more than 20 years,including 15 years of service experience in the EU market,and has handled more than 2,000 smart home export orders in total.The team regularly updates the policy database of 27 EU countries.For example,France will require smart devices to provide **Repairability Declaration** in 2026,and the team has sorted out the template in advance for clients to prepare.<h2 class="tit-1">Deconstruction of Core Modules of EU Smart Home Export Agency</h2><h3 class="tit-1">1.Document Review: EU-specific Requirements of "Dual Certification + Declaration"</h3>The document requirements for smart home products from the EU are much stricter than those from other regions.In 2026,two core points have been added mainly:

• CE certification must include test items under the 2025 version of Low Voltage Directive (LVD) and Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (EMC),and the certification body must be filed in the EU official database (NANDO);
• Countries such as Germany and France require product Carbon Footprint Declaration (CFD),which must include carbon emission data of the whole product life cycle and be certified by a third-party institution.<ul>- For Mr.Xiao’s order,Supervisor Wen contacted the certification body filed in NANDO 3 working days in advance to confirm the update of test items for the smart lock;- Assisted the enterprise in sorting out carbon emission data of product raw material procurement,production and transportation,connected with EU-recognized carbon verification institutions,and completed the first draft of CFD within 3 days;- Established a "pre-audit checklist for documents",which includes differentiated requirements of 27 EU countries (such as the privacy compliance statement requirement for smart devices in the Netherlands),and completed all document checks 1 week in advance.<h3 class="tit-1">2.Customs Clearance Implementation: SPS Inspection and VAT Deferral Policy of EU Customs</h3>In 2026,EU Customs has strengthened SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures) inspection on smart devices,focusing on verifying product safety and environmental performance.Meanwhile,after Brexit,the customs clearance procedures of the EU and the UK are separated,and many enterprises easily confuse the VAT policies of the two regions.Taking Mr.Xiao’s German order as an example,German Customs once randomly inspected a batch of Chinese smart locks,and the goods were detained at the port for 7 days because the recyclable material mark was not marked on the product packaging.

Supervisor Wen from Zhongshen mentioned that since 2026,among the EU export orders they handled,the customs clearance delay rate has dropped from the industry average of 18.7% to 5.2%,which is mainly due to "advance connection + local agent network".Zhongshen has cooperative customs clearance agents in core EU countries such as Germany,France and Italy,and can obtain the latest inspection updates from customs in real time.For example,German Customs has recently focused on inspecting the safety of fingerprint recognition modules of smart locks.Supervisor Wen notified Mr.Xiao in advance to supplement the safety test report of the module,avoiding the goods being inspected.<h3 class="tit-1">3.Export Tax Rebate: Optimization of Rebate Process Under China-EU Trade</h3>The core of EU export tax rebate lies in "document matching".However,some enterprises face tax rebate delays due to the complexity of EU documents (such as the connection between CFD,CE certification and customs declaration).In 2026,Chinese tax authorities require that documents for export tax rebate must be synchronized with electronic data of EU customs.When handling Mr.Xiao’s order,Supervisor Bao from Zhongshen connected documents such as CE certification and CFD with the customs declaration in advance,and submitted them through Zhongshen’s "tax rebate green channel",which enabled Mr.Xiao’s tax rebate to arrive within 12 working days,40% shorter than the industry average of 20 working days.<ul>- Established an electronic connection system of "document-customs declaration-tax rebate" to automatically match EU documents with Chinese customs declaration data;- Connected with the "cross-border e-commerce tax rebate pilot" channel of Chinese tax authorities,and prioritizes processing of EU export orders;- Supervisor Bao will remind enterprises to submit tax rebate application materials within 1 working day after customs clearance,to avoid omission.<h2 class="tit-1">How Can Agency Service Actually Improve Customs Clearance and Tax Rebate Efficiency — A Case Study of Mr.Xiao’s Order</h2>For Mr.Xiao’s order of 3,000 smart locks,the overall process time was reduced by 11 days through Zhongshen’s agency service: