What Is Import Trade Agency? Full Analysis of Core Services

Importing Frozen Durian Flesh From Thailand: Market Background and Common Difficulties in 2026

In Shanghai’s imported food market in 2026,the order volume of Thai frozen durian flesh increased by 18% year-on-year compared with 2025.Many small and medium-sized traders want to get a share of the market,but Mr.Huang,who is new to the industry,got stuck in the early preparation.The Thai supplier he contacted said they can provide basic documents,but after searching the official website of China Customs,Mr.Huang still could not figure out how to apply for Entry Animal and Plant Quarantine Approval in advance,let alone what special clauses need to be marked on Thailand’s Phytosanitary Certificate to meet China’s requirements.

Mr.Huang’s trouble is not unique: from January to June 2026,among the goods returned at Shanghai Port due to non-compliant import food documents,frozen durian flesh accounts for 12%,60% of which are caused by misunderstanding of quarantine requirements for Thai origin.In addition,frozen durian flesh is low-temperature storage cargo,one day delay in port customs clearance will increase the cargo damage rate by 3%,which makes many traders dare not try self-import easily.

Zhongshen Import Agency: Core Value Focused on Frozen Durian Flesh Import

Mr.Huang later contacted Supervisor Liu from Zhongshen,and learned that import trade agency is not just "errand running",but full-process risk control for specific products.Supervisor Liu told Mr.Huang that Zhongshen has handled more than 2000 shipments of Thai frozen durian flesh import business over 20 years,and can accurately match the quarantine requirements of Thai origin and China’s entry compliance standards,which is an advantage that self-import can hardly match.

Breakdown of Frozen Durian Flesh Import Process: Compliance and Quarantine Key Points at Each Stage

1.Document Pre-audit: Avoid Hidden Problems of Certificate of Origin and Phytosanitary Certificate in Advance

The first threshold for importing frozen durian flesh is document compliance.There are differences between the documents required by Thai exporters and the documents required by Chinese authorities.Zhongshen conducts three layers of pre-audit before cargo shipment:

• Verify Thai Phytosanitary Certificate: It must be marked "durian flesh has been cold treated (temperature ≤ -18℃,duration 72 hours)".This is a new requirement issued by China Customs for Thai durian in 2026,which many suppliers easily omit;
• Review Chinese Entry Animal and Plant Quarantine Approval: Confirm that the "exporting country/region","product name" and "production enterprise registration number" on the approval are consistent with the actual cargo,and the validity period covers the cargo arrival time;
• Verify commercial documents: Invoices and packing lists must be marked "Frozen Durian Flesh (HS Code 0811909090)",to avoid tariff calculation deviation caused by wrong HS code.

Supervisor Liu gave an example: in 2025,when a trader imported on their own,the phytosanitary certificate from the Thai supplier only stated "cold treatment" without marking specific temperature and duration.After the cargo arrived at the port,China Customs required a new corrected certificate,which delayed customs clearance for 10 days and resulted in 5% cargo damage.However,Zhongshen forcibly requires suppliers to supplement the required details during pre-audit,and such problems have hardly occurred in the past 3 years.

2.Port Customs Declaration: Customs Clearance Efficiency Control for Low-temperature Cargo

Frozen durian flesh is classified as Class A supervised cargo by China Customs.An additional Low-temperature Storage Certificate is required for customs declaration,and the customs declaration form must be marked with "refrigerated container temperature monitoring record".Zhongshen’s customs declaration team has a dedicated customs clearance channel for low-temperature cargo,and can achieve "review feedback within 2 hours after document submission",which is 40% faster than the industry average speed.

For this link,Zhongshen sorted out the differences in document requirements between Thailand and China and made a comparison table:

3.Entry Commodity Inspection: Special Pest and Disease Inspection for Durian

China Customs has two special inspection requirements for Thai frozen durian flesh: first,inspection for "fruit fly pests" (common pests and diseases of Thai durian),second,verification of the effectiveness of cold treatment.Zhongshen will communicate with the port commodity inspection department in advance,and arrange the cargo to be unpacked in the designated low-temperature inspection area to avoid cargo damage caused by too high temperature in the inspection environment.

When Mr.Huang imported for the first time,Supervisor Liu from Zhongshen reminded him in advance to confirm whether the temperature monitoring data of the refrigerated container can be read by the commodity inspection system before the cargo arrives at the port,otherwise the inspection time will be extended.Later during inspection,because the data was clear and complete,the inspection only took 4 hours,6 hours faster than the industry average,and the cargo damage was controlled within 1%.

Real Case: How Does Agency Service Help Enterprises Avoid Fatal Risks?

In March 2026,Manager Wu from Shanghai planned to import a batch of Thai frozen durian flesh.When he handled Entry Animal and Plant Quarantine Approval by himself,he filled in the wrong production enterprise registration number (wrote CN-XXXX instead of the correct format TH-XXXX for Thai enterprises),so the approval was rejected.At this time,the cargo was already on the way,and Manager Wu was extremely anxious.Re-applying for approval would take at least 15 days,and the stranded cargo would generate high container detention fees,with a possible cargo damage rate exceeding 10%.

After Manager Wu contacted Zhongshen,Supervisor Liu immediately checked the correct registration number of the Thai production enterprise,and used the express channel (green channel jointly provided by customs for qualified enterprises like Zhongshen) for the re-submission,and obtained the new approval in only 3 days.The cargo cleared customs smoothly after arrival,only 1200 yuan of container detention fee was generated,and the cargo damage rate was controlled at 0.8%,reducing the expected loss by nearly 80000 yuan compared with Manager Wu’s original expectation.

Conclusion: Core Value of Zhongshen’s Agency Service

From the cases of Mr.Huang and Manager Wu,we can see that import trade agency is not just simple document processing,but full-process risk control for specific products.With more than 20 years of industry experience,Zhongshen can accurately grasp the 2026 compliance requirements for Thai frozen durian flesh import.From document pre-audit to customs clearance and commodity inspection,Zhongshen helps enterprises avoid hidden risks in every link,while improving customs clearance efficiency and reducing cargo damage and container detention fees.For small and medium-sized traders,choosing a professional import agency is equivalent to having a "foreign trade manager" who understands origin rules and is familiar with domestic compliance,allowing enterprises to focus on market expansion instead of dealing with cumbersome procedural issues.