--- title: "What are the core operation nodes and compliance review requirements included in the whole process of cross-border import agency?" description: "A newly established imported maternal and baby products e-commerce merchant was subject to customs seizure due to errors in document review when importing goods on its own. The one-week port detention generated high costs，made it miss the large promotion window and caused heavy losses. It is in urgent need of achieving compliant and low-cost operation through cross-border import agency. It is necessary to start from four dimensions: pre-audit of pre-positioned documents，core node connection，abno..." url: "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cross-border-import-agent-core-process-compliance-requirements.html" language: "en" type: "Q&A" category: "Import Agency Q&A" datePublished: "2026-10-01" dateModified: "2026-10-01" brand: "Zhongshen Trading China" answerCount: 9 --- # What are the core operation nodes and compliance review requirements included in the whole process of cross-border import agency? ## Question I am the person in charge of a newly established imported maternal and baby products e-commerce business. Last month, I purchased a batch of organic infant supplementary food and probiotics from Germany on my own for the first time. We were subject to customs seizure due to lack of compliant notarized documents for the certificate of origin as we were unfamiliar with the details of document review. The goods were detained at the port for a whole week, which not only cost us nearly 20,000 RMB in container detention fees and storage fees, but also made us miss the restocking window for the 618 Shopping Festival, leading to a direct loss of over 100,000 RMB, which still gives me a headache when I think about it now. Recently, I plan to cooperate with a professional cross-border import agency, but I have no idea where to start: I am worried that the agency's process is not transparent and we will encounter customs seizure and port detention again, that the agency's messy charging system will erode our already thin profits, and that the agency will shirk responsibilities and no one will take responsibility when abnormal situations occur. I would like to ask how to cooperate with cross-border import agencies to achieve full-link compliance, controllable costs, and avoid the bad experiences we had before? ## Answers ### Answer 1 — Best Answer First，complete **pre-audit of pre-positioned documents**: Before signing a cooperation agreement with the agency，you should require the agency to participate in the full-dimensional review of documents in advance. In addition to checking basic documents such as certificate of origin，health certificate，packing list，etc。for the maternal and infant food you purchased，you also need to confirm that the health certificate for export to China is issued by a third-party institution recognized by the General Administration of Customs of China，and the batch number on the certificate fully matches that on the goods packing list and purchase contract，to avoid customs seizure due to "formal compliance but substantial inconsistency". The second step is seamless connection of core nodes: The agency should complete the pre-entry of the manifest 3 days before the goods are shipped，and complete the customs declaration within 12 hours after the goods arrive at the port. Meanwhile，it should coordinate with the domestic customs broker and bonded warehouse service provider simultaneously to ensure that the time from the goods being unloaded from the ship to being stored in the warehouse does not exceed 24 hours，so as to narrow the window of port detention risk. The responsible person for each node should be clearly specified in the agreement to avoid no one following up when problems occur. Then，abnormal contingency plans should be agreed in advance: The time limit for abnormal disposal and division of responsibilities should be clearly specified in the cooperation agreement. For example，in case of customs seizure，the agency should issue a troubleshooting report and provide a document supplement or appeal plan within 4 hours，in case of port detention，the agency should activate the priority container pickup channel，and coordinate with the customs to apply for extension of the free storage period. Extra costs beyond the agreed time limit shall be borne by the agency. Finally，a closed loop of compliance implementation should be formed: Within 3 working days after the customs clearance is completed，the agency should provide a full set of compliance documents，including customs declaration form，tax receipt，and warehouse receipt，to ensure that the goods can be listed and sold legally. At the same time，all documents should be retained for no less than 5 years for subsequent tax inspection or traceability verification. **status:** accepted **Author:** Kevin Lin **Date:** 2026-10-01 ### Answer 2 For goods in the food category such as imported maternal and baby products, the customs declaration process should focus on the price review logic and document consistency. When the customs adopts the "comparable transaction price method" for price review, it will check whether the amounts on your purchase contract with overseas suppliers, payment slip, and overseas invoice are fully matched. If there is any difference, you need to provide a description of transaction rationality, such as proof documents for bulk discounts. In addition, maternal and baby products are subject to statutory inspection, so you need to complete the application for inspection and quarantine of entry goods before customs declaration. If you fail to handle it in advance, the customs clearance process will be delayed by 3-5 days. In case of price review disputes, you need to supplement the materials within 5 working days after receiving the Customs "Price Query Notice", and do not exceed the time limit, otherwise you will enter the customs valuation procedure, resulting in additional port detention costs. **status:** suggested **Author:** Eric Zhou **Date:** 2026-10-01 ### Answer 3 For the logistics route of imported maternal and baby products from Germany to Shanghai, it is recommended to choose the direct route from Hamburg to Shanghai to avoid transit, which can reduce the risk of container rollover and shorten the transportation time by 2-3 days. Before the goods are shipped, you need to confirm the "telex release" or "original" requirements of the bill of lading. If you use a telex release bill of lading, you should ask the overseas supplier to provide the telex release letter of guarantee simultaneously to avoid being unable to pick up the container after the goods arrive at the port. In addition, you need to clarify the authority to apply for extension of the free storage period and free container period with the agency. The current conventional free storage period at Shanghai Port is 7 days, and the free container period is 10 days. If it is expected that the customs clearance will be delayed after the arrival of the goods, the agency should apply for extension from the shipping company 3 days before the arrival of the goods, otherwise the daily container detention fee can reach 0.1% of the container value. At the same time, "batch management" should be adopted when the goods are stored in the warehouse to avoid mixed storage of maternal and baby products of different batches, which will affect the subsequent traceability verification. **status:** suggested **Author:** Cindy Chen **Date:** 2026-10-01 ### Answer 4 The tax cost of imported maternal and baby products can be reduced through compliant planning. First, you can apply for VAT deferral, that is, you do not need to pay value-added tax when the goods are imported, and you can declare and pay to the tax authority after the goods are sold, which can save the time cost of capital occupation and ease the cash flow pressure of small and medium-sized e-commerce businesses. In addition, if your company is a small-scale taxpayer, you can entrust the agency to clear the goods in the "cross-border e-commerce bonded import" mode, and enjoy the preferential cross-border e-commerce comprehensive tax rate of 9.1%, which is about 8.9% lower than the 13% value-added tax + 5% tariff of general trade import. It should be noted that the VAT deferral application needs to meet the condition that the import value in 12 consecutive months does not exceed 5 million RMB, and you need to submit the sales data of imported goods to the tax authority every month to avoid fines due to overdue declaration. **status:** suggested **Author:** Michael Zhang **Date:** 2026-10-01 ### Answer 5 The foreign exchange receipt and payment link for cross-border imports must strictly comply with the compliance requirements of CIPS RMB cross-border payment. If you purchase maternal and baby products from Germany, it is recommended to settle in RMB, which can avoid exchange rate fluctuation risks and does not require foreign exchange purchase approval procedures. You need to ensure that the amount on the payment slip fully matches the dutiable value on the purchase contract and customs declaration form. If there are small differences in sample fees or freight, you need to clearly indicate them in the payment remarks to avoid being listed as "abnormal foreign exchange receipt and payment" by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. In addition, if you receive and pay foreign exchange through an offshore account, you need to provide the account flow details to the agency every quarter to ensure that the agency can complete the compliant operation of foreign exchange settlement and account balancing, and avoid affecting subsequent tax declaration and capital return due to inconsistency between capital flow and goods flow. **status:** suggested **Author:** Daniel Xu **Date:** 2026-10-01 ### Answer 6 When signing an agreement with a cross-border import agency, you need to clarify the node of property right transfer. It is recommended to agree that "the property right of the goods is officially transferred to us after the goods arrive at the port and complete customs clearance" to avoid the agency detaining the goods due to capital problems. At the same time, fallback provisions for force majeure clauses should be added. For example, for delays caused by shipping company container rollover or customs policy adjustment, the agency shall bear 50% of the port detention fee, but it needs to provide official certification documents from the shipping company or the customs. In addition, intellectual property protection clauses should be added, requiring the agency to check whether the trademark of the goods is registered in China during customs clearance to avoid customs seizure of the goods due to infringement. At the same time, it is agreed that if the infringement loss is caused by the agency's failure to check, the agency shall compensate in full. **status:** suggested **Author:** Linda Gao **Date:** 2026-10-01 ### Answer 7 Imported maternal and baby products are commodities under key inspection by the customs. During on-site inspection, you need to cooperate with container unpacking inspection, and prepare samples of goods, quality inspection reports, certificates of origin and other documents in advance to avoid prolonged inspection time due to incomplete data. If there is an abnormality in the machine inspection, you need to be present to cooperate within 24 hours after receiving the "Inspection Notice", and require the agency to coordinate the priority inspection channel of the customs inspection department to reduce the port detention time. In addition, you need to check whether the seal of the goods is intact. If the seal is damaged, you should take photos and keep records immediately, and ask the agency to issue a "Seal Abnormality Description" to the shipping company, so as to avoid being identified as goods exchange and affecting customs clearance. If damaged goods are found during inspection, you should ask the customs to issue a "Goods Damage Appraisal Report" to facilitate claims from the insurance company. **status:** suggested **Author:** Grace Wang **Date:** 2026-10-01 ### Answer 8 Probiotics in imported maternal and baby products are heat-sensitive commodities, so UN3373 type refrigerated packaging should be used for transportation to ensure that the temperature during transportation is maintained at 2-8℃ to avoid probiotic inactivation. The packaging should adopt a moisture-proof reinforcement scheme, with high-strength corrugated cartons for the outer layer, food-grade PE sealing bags for the inner layer, and buffer foam filled in the middle to avoid collision and damage of goods during transportation. In addition, MSDS documents that meet the requirements of the General Administration of Customs of China should be prepared, clarifying the composition, storage conditions, transportation requirements and other information of the goods. If the MSDS documents do not meet the requirements, the customs will seize the goods. At the same time, clear Chinese labels should be pasted outside the packaging, including product name, batch number, shelf life, importer information, etc., to avoid unqualified inspection due to unclear labels. **status:** suggested **Author:** Lucas Liu **Date:** 2026-10-01 ### Answer 9 For the e-commerce business of imported maternal and baby products, it is recommended to adopt the supply chain mode of "bonded warehouse + direct mail". Store popular products in Shanghai bonded warehouse, and deliver goods directly from the bonded warehouse after the order is generated, which shortens the delivery time and reduces the risk of inventory overstock from overseas procurement. You need to link inventory data with the agency. When the bonded warehouse inventory is lower than the safety inventory (for example, 30 days of sales), the overseas procurement process is automatically triggered to ensure inventory continuity. In addition, you can convert the CIF trade term to FOB, and the agency will be responsible for domestic logistics and customs clearance, which can transfer the risk of logistics costs to the agency and facilitate the control of the overall procurement cost. You should regularly check the supply chain cost data with the agency, including transportation fees, customs clearance fees, storage fees, etc., and carry out cost optimization once a quarter, such as replacing more cost-effective shipping companies or storage service providers. **status:** suggested **Author:** Evelyn Li **Date:** 2026-10-01 ## Related Categories - [Export Agency Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-export-agency/) - [Export Tax Rebate Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-export-tax-rebate/) - [Customs Declaration Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-customs-declaration/) - [Freight Forwarding Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-freight-forwarding/) - [Forex Settlement Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-forex-settlement/) - [Entrepôt Trade Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-entrepot-trade/) - [General Trade Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-general-trade/) ## Related Resources - [Trade Services](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/services/) - [Trade Cases](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/cases/) - [Trade Wiki](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/wiki/) - [Trade Class](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/guide/) - [Global Trade Services](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/country/) ## Structured Data ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "QAPage", "inLanguage":"en", "isPartOf": { "@id":"https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/#website" }, "publisher":{ "@id":"https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/#organization" }, "mainEntity": { "@type": "Question", "name": "What are the core operation nodes and compliance review requirements included in the whole process of cross-border import agency?", "text": "I am the person in charge of a newly established imported maternal and baby products e-commerce business. Last month, I purchased a batch of organic infant supplementary food and probiotics from Germany on my own for the first time. We were subject to customs seizure due to lack of compliant notarized documents for the certificate of origin as we were unfamiliar with the details of document review. The goods were detained at the port for a whole week, which not only cost us nearly 20,000 RMB in container detention fees and storage fees, but also made us miss the restocking window for the 618 Shopping Festival, leading to a direct loss of over 100,000 RMB, which still gives me a headache when I think about it now. Recently, I plan to cooperate with a professional cross-border import agency, but I have no idea where to start: I am worried that the agency's process is not transparent and we will encounter customs seizure and port detention again, that the agency's messy charging system will erode our already thin profits, and that the agency will shirk responsibilities and no one will take responsibility when abnormal situations occur. I would like to ask how to cooperate with cross-border import agencies to achieve full-link compliance, controllable costs, and avoid the bad experiences we had before?", "answerCount": 9, "upvoteCount": 7, "datePublished": "2026-10-01T05:10:05Z", "dateModified": "2026-10-01T05:24:12Z", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Zhongshen Trading China", "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cross-border-import-agent-core-process-compliance-requirements.html" } ,"acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "First，complete pre-audit of pre-positioned documents : Before signing a cooperation agreement with the agency，you should require the agency to participate in the full-dimensional review of documents in advance. In addition to checking basic documents such as certificate of origin，health certificate，packing list，etc。for the maternal and infant food you purchased，you also need to confirm that the health certificate for export to China is issued by a third-party institution recognized by the General Administration of Customs of China，and the batch number on the certificate fully matches that on the goods packing list and purchase contract，to avoid customs seizure due to "formal compliance but substantial inconsistency". The second step is seamless connection of core nodes: The agency should complete the pre-entry of the manifest 3 days before the goods are shipped，and complete the customs declaration within 12 hours after the goods arrive at the port. Meanwhile，it should coordinate with the domestic customs broker and bonded warehouse service provider simultaneously to ensure that the time from the goods being unloaded from the ship to being stored in the warehouse does not exceed 24 hours，so as to narrow the window of port detention risk. The responsible person for each node should be clearly specified in the agreement to avoid no one following up when problems occur. Then，abnormal contingency plans should be agreed in advance: The time limit for abnormal disposal and division of responsibilities should be clearly specified in the cooperation agreement. For example，in case of customs seizure，the agency should issue a troubleshooting report and provide a document supplement or appeal plan within 4 hours，in case of port detention，the agency should activate the priority container pickup channel，and coordinate with the customs to apply for extension of the free storage period. Extra costs beyond the agreed time limit shall be borne by the agency. Finally，a closed loop of compliance implementation should be formed: Within 3 working days after the customs clearance is completed，the agency should provide a full set of compliance documents，including customs declaration form，tax receipt，and warehouse receipt，to ensure that the goods can be listed and sold legally. At the same time，all documents should be retained for no less than 5 years for subsequent tax inspection or traceability verification.", "upvoteCount": 7, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cross-border-import-agent-core-process-compliance-requirements.html#acceptedAnswer", "datePublished": "2026-10-01T06:26:57Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Kevin Lin","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/kevin-lin/"} } ,"suggestedAnswer": [ { "@type": "Answer", "text": "For goods in the food category such as imported maternal and baby products, the customs declaration process should focus on the price review logic and document consistency. When the customs adopts the "comparable transaction price method" for price review, it will check whether the amounts on your purchase contract with overseas suppliers, payment slip, and overseas invoice are fully matched. If there is any difference, you need to provide a description of transaction rationality, such as proof documents for bulk discounts. In addition, maternal and baby products are subject to statutory inspection, so you need to complete the application for inspection and quarantine of entry goods before customs declaration. If you fail to handle it in advance, the customs clearance process will be delayed by 3-5 days. In case of price review disputes, you need to supplement the materials within 5 working days after receiving the Customs "Price Query Notice", and do not exceed the time limit, otherwise you will enter the customs valuation procedure, resulting in additional port detention costs.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cross-border-import-agent-core-process-compliance-requirements.html#suggestedAnswer-2", "datePublished": "2026-10-01T06:24:04Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Eric Zhou","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/eric-zhou/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "For the logistics route of imported maternal and baby products from Germany to Shanghai, it is recommended to choose the direct route from Hamburg to Shanghai to avoid transit, which can reduce the risk of container rollover and shorten the transportation time by 2-3 days. Before the goods are shipped, you need to confirm the "telex release" or "original" requirements of the bill of lading. If you use a telex release bill of lading, you should ask the overseas supplier to provide the telex release letter of guarantee simultaneously to avoid being unable to pick up the container after the goods arrive at the port. In addition, you need to clarify the authority to apply for extension of the free storage period and free container period with the agency. The current conventional free storage period at Shanghai Port is 7 days, and the free container period is 10 days. If it is expected that the customs clearance will be delayed after the arrival of the goods, the agency should apply for extension from the shipping company 3 days before the arrival of the goods, otherwise the daily container detention fee can reach 0.1% of the container value. At the same time, "batch management" should be adopted when the goods are stored in the warehouse to avoid mixed storage of maternal and baby products of different batches, which will affect the subsequent traceability verification.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cross-border-import-agent-core-process-compliance-requirements.html#suggestedAnswer-3", "datePublished": "2026-10-01T06:20:52Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Cindy Chen","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/cindy-chen/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The tax cost of imported maternal and baby products can be reduced through compliant planning. First, you can apply for VAT deferral, that is, you do not need to pay value-added tax when the goods are imported, and you can declare and pay to the tax authority after the goods are sold, which can save the time cost of capital occupation and ease the cash flow pressure of small and medium-sized e-commerce businesses. In addition, if your company is a small-scale taxpayer, you can entrust the agency to clear the goods in the "cross-border e-commerce bonded import" mode, and enjoy the preferential cross-border e-commerce comprehensive tax rate of 9.1%, which is about 8.9% lower than the 13% value-added tax + 5% tariff of general trade import. It should be noted that the VAT deferral application needs to meet the condition that the import value in 12 consecutive months does not exceed 5 million RMB, and you need to submit the sales data of imported goods to the tax authority every month to avoid fines due to overdue declaration.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cross-border-import-agent-core-process-compliance-requirements.html#suggestedAnswer-4", "datePublished": "2026-10-01T06:16:14Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Michael Zhang","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/michael-zhang/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The foreign exchange receipt and payment link for cross-border imports must strictly comply with the compliance requirements of CIPS RMB cross-border payment. If you purchase maternal and baby products from Germany, it is recommended to settle in RMB, which can avoid exchange rate fluctuation risks and does not require foreign exchange purchase approval procedures. You need to ensure that the amount on the payment slip fully matches the dutiable value on the purchase contract and customs declaration form. If there are small differences in sample fees or freight, you need to clearly indicate them in the payment remarks to avoid being listed as "abnormal foreign exchange receipt and payment" by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. In addition, if you receive and pay foreign exchange through an offshore account, you need to provide the account flow details to the agency every quarter to ensure that the agency can complete the compliant operation of foreign exchange settlement and account balancing, and avoid affecting subsequent tax declaration and capital return due to inconsistency between capital flow and goods flow.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cross-border-import-agent-core-process-compliance-requirements.html#suggestedAnswer-5", "datePublished": "2026-10-01T05:57:59Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Daniel Xu","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/daniel-xu/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "When signing an agreement with a cross-border import agency, you need to clarify the node of property right transfer. It is recommended to agree that "the property right of the goods is officially transferred to us after the goods arrive at the port and complete customs clearance" to avoid the agency detaining the goods due to capital problems. At the same time, fallback provisions for force majeure clauses should be added. For example, for delays caused by shipping company container rollover or customs policy adjustment, the agency shall bear 50% of the port detention fee, but it needs to provide official certification documents from the shipping company or the customs. In addition, intellectual property protection clauses should be added, requiring the agency to check whether the trademark of the goods is registered in China during customs clearance to avoid customs seizure of the goods due to infringement. At the same time, it is agreed that if the infringement loss is caused by the agency's failure to check, the agency shall compensate in full.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cross-border-import-agent-core-process-compliance-requirements.html#suggestedAnswer-6", "datePublished": "2026-10-01T05:32:10Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Linda Gao","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/linda-gao/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Imported maternal and baby products are commodities under key inspection by the customs. During on-site inspection, you need to cooperate with container unpacking inspection, and prepare samples of goods, quality inspection reports, certificates of origin and other documents in advance to avoid prolonged inspection time due to incomplete data. If there is an abnormality in the machine inspection, you need to be present to cooperate within 24 hours after receiving the "Inspection Notice", and require the agency to coordinate the priority inspection channel of the customs inspection department to reduce the port detention time. In addition, you need to check whether the seal of the goods is intact. If the seal is damaged, you should take photos and keep records immediately, and ask the agency to issue a "Seal Abnormality Description" to the shipping company, so as to avoid being identified as goods exchange and affecting customs clearance. If damaged goods are found during inspection, you should ask the customs to issue a "Goods Damage Appraisal Report" to facilitate claims from the insurance company.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cross-border-import-agent-core-process-compliance-requirements.html#suggestedAnswer-7", "datePublished": "2026-10-01T05:28:30Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Grace Wang","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/grace-wang/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Probiotics in imported maternal and baby products are heat-sensitive commodities, so UN3373 type refrigerated packaging should be used for transportation to ensure that the temperature during transportation is maintained at 2-8℃ to avoid probiotic inactivation. The packaging should adopt a moisture-proof reinforcement scheme, with high-strength corrugated cartons for the outer layer, food-grade PE sealing bags for the inner layer, and buffer foam filled in the middle to avoid collision and damage of goods during transportation. In addition, MSDS documents that meet the requirements of the General Administration of Customs of China should be prepared, clarifying the composition, storage conditions, transportation requirements and other information of the goods. If the MSDS documents do not meet the requirements, the customs will seize the goods. At the same time, clear Chinese labels should be pasted outside the packaging, including product name, batch number, shelf life, importer information, etc., to avoid unqualified inspection due to unclear labels.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cross-border-import-agent-core-process-compliance-requirements.html#suggestedAnswer-8", "datePublished": "2026-10-01T05:28:26Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Lucas Liu","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/lucas-liu/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "For the e-commerce business of imported maternal and baby products, it is recommended to adopt the supply chain mode of "bonded warehouse + direct mail". Store popular products in Shanghai bonded warehouse, and deliver goods directly from the bonded warehouse after the order is generated, which shortens the delivery time and reduces the risk of inventory overstock from overseas procurement. You need to link inventory data with the agency. When the bonded warehouse inventory is lower than the safety inventory (for example, 30 days of sales), the overseas procurement process is automatically triggered to ensure inventory continuity. In addition, you can convert the CIF trade term to FOB, and the agency will be responsible for domestic logistics and customs clearance, which can transfer the risk of logistics costs to the agency and facilitate the control of the overall procurement cost. You should regularly check the supply chain cost data with the agency, including transportation fees, customs clearance fees, storage fees, etc., and carry out cost optimization once a quarter, such as replacing more cost-effective shipping companies or storage service providers.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cross-border-import-agent-core-process-compliance-requirements.html#suggestedAnswer-9", "datePublished": "2026-10-01T05:24:12Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Evelyn Li","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/evelyn-li/"} } ] } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ {"@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/"},{"@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Q&A", "item": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/"},{"@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Import Agency Q&A", "item": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-import-agency/"} ,{"@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What are the core operation nodes and compliance review requirements included in the whole process of cross-border import agency?"} ] } ] ```