What New Regulations Will Shanghai Enterprises Face When Importing New Energy Materials? 2026 Customs Clearance Full Process Breakdown and Response Strategies

In 2026,demand for high-performance overseas raw materials in the new energy manufacturing sector in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region continues to rise.Imports of materials such as lithium battery separators from Europe,photovoltaic silver paste from North America,and solid electrolyte precursors from Japan and South Korea are not just simple logistics handling.Technical regulations are updated rapidly,energy efficiency and environmental protection standards are becoming increasingly strict,requirements for origin certificates are complex,and some materials themselves have hazardous characteristics.Any oversight in any link may lead to goods being detained at the port,incurring high storage fees,and even facing return or administrative penalties.

Manager Han,head of a startup battery company,once admitted that during their first import of a batch of high-nickel cathode materials from South Korea,they failed to provide a conformity statement after the goods arrived at the port due to a misunderstanding of the certification requirements of the *Guidelines for the First Batch of Key New Materials Application Demonstration*,causing the customs clearance process to stall for nearly three weeks.Similar situations are not uncommon in the field of new energy material imports.The value of a professional import agency lies precisely in turning seemingly uncontrollable risks into manageable and predictable standardized processes.

Core Value of New Energy Material Import Agencies: From Pre-Compliance to Risk Isolation

When handling new energy material imports,Zhongshen first acts as a "compliance consultant".Unlike ordinary goods,new energy materials are often at the cutting edge of technology,and there may be ambiguities in their customs coding classification and determination of regulatory conditions.Our work starts from the customer’s procurement intention stage,through in-depth analysis of product composition,process and purpose,locking in the accurate commodity code in advance,and clarifying all regulatory documents required for import,such as Automatic Import License,Energy Efficiency Label or Dangerous Characteristics Classification and Identification Report.This pre-review can eliminate potential customs clearance obstacles before the goods are shipped.

More importantly,we have established a "risk isolation" mechanism.Through standardized agency agreements and operating procedures,we professionally entrust the enterprise’s compliance responsibilities in logistics,documents,foreign exchange and other aspects,allowing the enterprise to focus more on its own R&D and production.For example,in the foreign payment link,we ensure that every foreign payment corresponds to clear and legal trade background documents,fully complying with foreign exchange regulatory requirements and avoiding subsequent verification risks.

Phased Breakdown: Practical Operation Guide for the Entire Process of New Energy Material Import

Phase 1: Document Pre-Review and Compliance Planning

This is the foundation that determines the success or failure of the entire import project.The document requirements for new energy materials have significant particularities.

• Certificate of Origin and Preferential Tariff Rates: Many new energy materials involve tariff preferences under free trade agreements.We not only review the standardization of the certificate format,but also verify whether the product meets the "substantial transformation" rule.For example,for processed lithium carbonate imported from ASEAN,the origin standards may be complex and need to be confirmed in advance.
• Technical Documents and Safety Data: Materials related to lithium batteries must provide UN38.3 test reports and copies of certificates complying with standards such as IEC62619 or UL1973.For photovoltaic materials,attention needs to be paid to whether the content of toxic and harmful substances such as lead and cadmium complies with the requirements of *China RoHS*.Our document team will create a checklist and verify item by item to ensure that the documents are complete and valid.
• Customs Classification Pre-Ruling Application: For materials with novel components and special uses (such as hard carbon anode materials used in sodium-ion batteries),we advise and assist customers in applying for classification pre-rulings with the customs,obtaining legally binding classification opinions,and fundamentally avoiding delays caused by classification disputes after the goods arrive at the port.

Phase 2: International Transportation and Port Declaration Coordination

Some new energy materials are dangerous goods (such as metallic lithium and electrolytes in certain forms).The transportation link must strictly comply with the dangerous goods regulations of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).The shipping companies or airlines we cooperate with must have corresponding qualifications.When booking space,we need to accurately declare the dangerous goods grade and UN number,and arrange qualified warehouses for packing.One detail is that the containers carrying battery materials must be pasted with correct dangerous goods signs,which is a key focus of port security and maritime inspections.

Before the goods arrive at the port,complete customs declaration documents are ready and pre-entered.In addition to the conventional packing list,invoice,contract and bill of lading,we pay special attention to the accuracy of the following declaration elements for new energy materials:

Phase 3: Port Inspection and Commodity Inspection and Quarantine

New energy materials are a key inspection focus of customs and commodity inspection.Inspections may involve whether the goods match the declaration,whether the dangerous goods packaging meets standards,whether the energy efficiency labels are pasted correctly,and so on.

Our on-site customs declarers will accompany the inspection and communicate with customs officers immediately to explain the product characteristics.For example,a batch of imported battery modules was selected for inspection,and customs officers doubted whether they were "used mechanical and electrical products".Our declarers immediately presented the brand-new unused certificate issued by the manufacturer,factory serial number documents and relevant quality assurance certificates,quickly clarifying the doubts,avoiding the inspection and identification process that might be caused by misunderstanding and saving a lot of time.

For statutory inspection commodities,we assist customers in completing inspection declaration procedures,contact designated testing laboratories and follow up on testing progress.By the end of 2025,the state put forward clearer requirements for environmental resistance tests such as salt spray and ammonia for imported photovoltaic modules.We timely informed relevant customers of this development and assisted in preparing testing plans in advance to ensure that the goods can smoothly pass the quality and safety project inspection after arriving at the port.

Experience Sharing: A Practical Case of Classification Dispute

Last year,Manager Xiong from a technology company planned to import a batch of "sulfide solid electrolyte powder" for solid-state battery R&D from Germany.The information provided by the supplier described it as an "inorganic chemical product".Our review found that the product has extremely high purity and is customized for battery R&D,and there may be disputes over its commodity classification: it can be classified under either the ordinary inorganic chemical product tariff number or the tariff number related to battery materials,and the latter has more complex regulatory conditions.

We advised Manager Xiong to ask the supplier to provide more detailed product specifications and molecular structures before shipment,and consulted our classification experts based on this.Finally,we applied for a customs pre-classification for him,determined the most accurate tariff number,and prepared all the required *Import Drug Clearance Form* in advance (as it is an inorganic compound with a specific crystal form).After the goods arrived at Shanghai Pudong Airport,the declaration was approved on the first try without any inspection abnormalities.Manager Xiong later feedback that without advance planning,the customs delay caused by the classification dispute alone would have seriously affected his R&D progress.

Conclusion

The import of new energy materials has both technical and regulatory thresholds.It tests not only the ability to handle documents,but also the continuous tracking and understanding of industry technical trends and global regulatory systems.The significance of professional agency services lies in integrating scattered and high-risk import links into a stable,efficient and transparent supply chain channel.Through precise pre-compliance,rigorous process control and rich emergency response experience,we help enterprises turn unpredictable risks into calculable costs,ensuring that every batch of key materials related to future competitiveness can be delivered safely and on time to the production line.