Full-process Agency Service and Compliance Operation Guide for Imported Lily Bulbs

Current Status and Compliance Challenges of Lily Bulb Import

In 2026,the domestic flower market still maintains a high dependence on imported lily bulbs.Especially high-quality bulbs from the Netherlands,Chile,New Zealand and other countries are deeply favored by large domestic planting bases for their beautiful flower shape and strong disease resistance.However,with changes in the global biosafety situation,the General Administration of Customs of China has raised the intensity of quarantine supervision on entry lily bulbs to a new level in 2026.As plant propagation materials that are extremely easy to carry soil and nematodes,lily bulbs face strict access restrictions during import.

Many enterprises that attempt direct import for the first time often underestimate the complexity.Common pain points include: unfamiliar with the application process of the Entry Animal and Plant Quarantine License,resulting in failure to declare after cargo arrives at the port; the phytosanitary certificate information provided by foreign suppliers does not match the actual cargo; and lily bulbs carry prohibited soil or quarantine pests,leading to cargo being detained or even destroyed at the port.In addition,lily bulbs are extremely sensitive to temperature and humidity,and prolonged customs clearance will directly affect the germination rate and survival rate of bulbs,bringing direct economic losses to enterprises.

Core Value of Zhongshen in Lily Bulb Import

Zhongshen has been deeply rooted in the foreign trade agency industry for more than 20 years,and has built a mature import operation system for the special category of lily bulbs.Our core role is not only to handle declaration on behalf of clients,but also to transform complex laws and regulations into actionable operation plans.Before cargo shipment,the professional team of Zhongshen will intervene to review the accuracy of documents and ensure all information meets the latest 2026 regulatory requirements of Chinese Customs.

We fully understand the importance of cold chain for lily bulbs.Therefore,in the logistics link,Zhongshen coordinates international transportation resources to ensure seamless connection of full-process temperature control from the foreign cold storage to the designated domestic isolation site.With the intervention of a professional agency,enterprises can effectively avoid compliance risks caused by unfamiliarity with quarantine policies,and focus their energy on the later planting and sales links instead of the tedious customs clearance process.

Full-process Operation Breakdown and Compliance Guidelines

Document Pre-review and Access Confirmation

In the initial stage of lily bulb import,the accuracy of documents is the key to determining customs clearance efficiency.Zhongshen will assist enterprises to conduct strict pre-review on core documents and arrange shipment after confirming all information is correct.The following is the list of core documents that must be completed for import:

• Entry Animal and Plant Quarantine License: The application must be completed before cargo shipment,and the "designated port of entry" and "isolation site" applied for must be consistent with the actual logistics route.
• Certificate of Origin and Phytosanitary Certificate: Issued by foreign official institutions,it must indicate the variety name,Latin scientific name,place of origin and batch processing information,and the phytosanitary certificate must add an additional statement that the bulbs are free of soil or have undergone effective disinfestation treatment.
• Contract,Invoice and Packing List: The weight,quantity and product name on the commercial documents must be strictly consistent with those on the phytosanitary certificate.
• Permit for Import and Export of Endangered Species: If it involves wild lily varieties protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),this certificate needs to be processed additionally.

Port Customs Declaration and On-site Inspection

After the cargo arrives at the designated port,Zhongshen will immediately declare to the Customs.Since lily bulbs are legally inspection commodities,inspection is mandatory after customs declaration is completed.In this stage,the Customs will check whether the container seal is intact and whether the cargo has rot and mildew.Zhongshen’s operators will maintain real-time communication with inspection customs officers and assist in cooperating with the unpacking inspection.If the Customs issues an instruction for laboratory testing,we will follow up the testing progress in time and coordinate with the port storage department to provide a suitable temporary storage environment to prevent the bulbs from dehydration or deterioration while waiting for the test results.

Plant Quarantine and Isolation Planting

Plant quarantine is the most technical link in lily bulb import.According to the 2026 regulatory requirements,bulbs from different source countries face different quarantine requirements.Zhongshen will inform enterprises of possible measures in advance according to the risk level of different countries.

After the cargo is released,Zhongshen will assist enterprises to transport the bulbs to the designated isolation nursery for isolation planting.This is the last checkpoint of the import process,which usually requires one growth cycle of isolation.We will guide enterprises to cooperate with local Customs in epidemic monitoring to ensure that the Entry Cargo Inspection and Quarantine Certificate can be obtained smoothly after the expiration of the isolation period,completing the entire closed-loop import process.

Practical Case: Avoiding Return Shipment Risk

In early 2026,a large-scale flower planting enterprise in Shanghai planned to import a batch of high-value lily bulbs from the Netherlands.Because this batch of goods is a new variety,there were internal differences on the filling of declaration elements.Mr.Wu,in charge of procurement,contacted Zhongshen for assistance.When reviewing the scanned copy of the phytosanitary certificate sent by the foreign party,our document specialist found that there was a slight deviation between the "Latin scientific name of the variety" on the certificate and the classification corresponding to the HS code filled in the contract.

If declared directly,it would very likely be rejected by the Customs document review center,and even lead to audit due to incorrect classification.Zhongshen immediately advised Mr.Wu to suspend shipment and required the foreign supplier to reissue a correct phytosanitary certificate.At the same time,we found that the packaging of this batch of bulbs used wooden pallets,but the foreign party did not provide a fumigation certificate with IPPC mark.This is a typical quarantine violation risk point.Under our guidance,the foreign supplier replaced the pallets with qualified plastic pallets before shipment.Finally,this batch of goods was released by Customs in only half a day after arrival,avoiding demurrage and return shipment risk caused by document problems,and recovered tens of thousands of yuan of potential losses for Mr.Wu’s enterprise.

Conclusion

Importing lily bulbs is not a simple logistics and transportation business,but a systematic project involving biosafety,laws and regulations and cold chain management.With 20 years of industry accumulation,Zhongshen can accurately grasp each process node,from document pre-review to isolation quarantine,providing full-process compliance escort for enterprises.In 2026 with increasingly strict supervision,choosing professional import agency service is the optimal solution to improve customs clearance efficiency,reduce compliance costs and guarantee bulb quality.