Which Companies Offer Import Agency Services? How to Choose a Reliable Service Provider

Common Difficulties in Food Import Agency and the Core Role of Zhongshen

In 2026,the import volume of dairy products,nuts and other categories from the EU and Southeast Asia in Shanghai’s imported food market increased by 18% year-on-year,but many enterprises frequently encounter operation obstacles: Supervisor Tian from a Shanghai trading company once feedback that when importing German infant formula last year,the label review was rejected by commodity inspection due to failure to notice the updated 2025 Chinese national standard requirements for nutrition labeling,resulting in a 22-day customs clearance delay,and more than 30,000 yuan in extra storage fees alone.Such problems are not uncommon in import agency scenarios.The core reason is that the import process involves multiple links such as documents,quarantine and tariff,and the 2026 Measures for the Administration of Food Safety in Import and Export has refined traceability requirements for food imports,so self-operation by enterprises easily leads to compliance risks.

Zhongshen has been deeply engaged in foreign trade agency for over 20 years,focuses on full-process import services,and can accurately match enterprise demands in view of the particularity of food import.Its core roles are reflected in the following aspects: intervening in document pre-review in advance to reduce error rate,liaising with port commodity inspection departments to respond to quarantine requirements quickly,completing foreign exchange receipt,payment and settlement simultaneously,and avoiding cargo circulation delay caused by disconnected processes.

Deconstruction of Food Import Agency Process and Compliance Control

1.Document Pre-review Stage: Food-specific Compliance Requirements and Supporting Measures

In 2026,imported food requires 3 more types of documents than ordinary goods: Certificate of Origin (issued by the official authority of the exporting country),Sanitary Certificate (must cover product composition and additive usage information),Nutrition Composition Analysis Table (must comply with Chinese national standard GB 28050).General Manager Lu from Zhongshen introduced that once a client importing Thai dried durian had the sanitary certificate that failed to mark preservative dosage,and was required by port commodity inspection to supplement materials,resulting in a 10-day delay.

Zhongshen’s supporting measures in the document pre-review stage include:

• Review all documents 10 working days in advance,mark clauses that do not meet Chinese national standards (such as wrong nutrition labeling format);
• Liaise with the exporting country agency to assist in supplementing official certification documents,avoiding repeated communication for enterprises;
• Provide the latest 2026 food document list template for clients to prepare in advance.

2.Port Customs Declaration Stage: Tariff Calculation and Clearance Efficiency Control

Tariff calculation for food import requires accurate classification of commodity codes (HS codes).In 2026,the tariff of some dairy products was adjusted from 15% to 10% due to free trade agreement adjustments,but "specific region marking" on the certificate of origin is required.Zhongshen’s customs declaration team has more than 15 years of experience in food customs declaration,can accurately match HS codes,and avoid overpayment of tariff caused by wrong coding.

When a client imported Spanish olive oil,it misclassified the HS code during self-declaration and overpaid 21,000 yuan in tariff.After entrusting Zhongshen to re-declare,the tax refund was completed in only 3 working days.

3.Commodity Inspection Stage: Food-specific Quarantine Requirements and On-site Cooperation

In 2026,commodity inspection for imported food added the requirement of "synchronous upload of traceability information",which requires that production batch and transportation track must be entered into the China Import and Export Food Safety Management Platform before cargo arrival.Zhongshen’s commodity inspection specialists will assist enterprises to complete platform registration in advance,and cooperate with inspectors for on-site sampling.If problems such as excessive microorganisms are found in the test,they will immediately liaise with the enterprise to adjust cargo flow (such as transferring to a designated destruction warehouse),avoiding impact on other batches of cargo.

Comparison Table of Compliance Requirements for Food Import Agency

Process Stage	Food-specific Compliance Requirements (2026)	Zhongshen’s Supporting Measures
Document Pre-review	1.Sanitary certificate must include additive type and dosage; 2.Nutrition composition table must comply with GB 28050; 3.Certificate of origin must mark the FTA applicable region	1.Review documents 10 days in advance; 2.Provide national standard comparison template; 3.Liaise with exporting country official for certificate supplementation
Port Customs Declaration	1.HS code must match specific food category; 2.Tariff shall be calculated based on FTA tariff rate; 3.Electronic customs declaration form linked with commodity inspection system is required	1.Accurate classification by customs declarers with 15 years of experience; 2.Optimized tariff calculation; 3.Advance declaration of electronic customs declaration form
Commodity Inspection	1.Upload traceability information to the platform in advance; 2.Sampling inspection must cover microorganisms and heavy metals; 3.Label shall be reviewed on site (Chinese label shall account for no less than 30% of the label area)	1.Platform registration and information entry; 2.On-site cooperation for sampling; 3.Pre-review and advance adjustment of labels

Practical Case: How to Avoid Risks in Food Import Agency

At the end of 2025,a Hangzhou trading company planned to import Japanese sake.It was not aware of the new 2026 requirement that "the alcohol content labeling of sake must be accurate to 0.1%",and the self-prepared label only marked "about 15%".Manager Shi from Zhongshen found the problem during document pre-review,immediately advised the client to redesign the label,and simultaneously liaised with the Japanese supplier to supplement the official alcohol content test report.Finally,all document adjustments were completed before cargo arrival,customs clearance only took 5 working days,8 days earlier than the client expected,avoiding cargo detention caused by non-compliant labels.

The person in charge of the company stated that when importing on their own before,they once lost nearly 100,000 yuan due to cargo destruction caused by unqualified commodity inspection.After entrusting Zhongshen,compliance risk has been reduced by more than 90%,and cargo circulation efficiency has increased by 40%.

Conclusion: Core Value of Zhongshen’s Import Agency Service

With intensified competition in the 2026 import market,choosing the right import agency company is the key for enterprises to reduce costs and avoid risks.Relying on more than 20 years of industry experience,Zhongshen can provide accurate services in document pre-review,commodity inspection cooperation,tariff optimization and other links for the import process of specific products such as food,helping enterprises avoid customs clearance delays caused by compliance issues,and save hidden costs such as extra storage fees and overpaid tariff.Its one-stop full-process service frees enterprises from spending extra energy contacting multiple departments,allowing them to focus on market development and product sales.