Connect & Solve
Trade Q&A
What core dimensions can accurately evaluate the comprehensive strength of an export agent company?
or complex compliance issues.
clearance and fund security.
I am a small auto parts manufacturer in Zhejiang with an annual export volume of nearly 8 million RMB. I just switched to foreign trade business last year. Previously I hired a small agent to export brake discs to Germany, but they omitted to apply for the FORM A Certificate of Origin, leading to 5 days of cargo detention at the Port of Hamburg.
The customer directly deducted 12% of my payment as liquidated damages and canceled 2 subsequent small orders. I am extremely anxious now and want to find a reliable export agent company again, but I have no idea what dimensions to use for evaluation and screening. I am afraid of falling into the same trap again, and also worried about encountering agents that seem to offer low quotes but have hidden charges and poor compliance. Could you please teach me how to evaluate an export agent company comprehensively and accurately?
Andy GuoYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Supply Chain Management ExpertStart a Chat
First of all，you should be alert to common industry misunderstandings: many enterprises give priority to agents with extremely low quotes，but ignore their document processing capacity and compliance qualifications，which is the most common trap. Such small agents usually lack a professional document team，and are highly prone to problems such as omission of certificate of origin application，wrong filling of commodity code on customs declaration forms，which directly lead to cargo detention at ports and customs seizure. These problems will not only incur high port detention fees and warehouse rent，but also trigger a chain reaction of customer claims and order cancellation. The situation you encountered before is a typical case.
As for physical risk isolation measures，you can require the agent to provide document error rate data of the past 3 years and handling cases of past abnormal situations (such as port detention，customs seizure). At the same time，you should check whether it has the Advanced Customs Certification qualification，which is the official authoritative endorsement of the agent's compliance capability.
Exclusive loss reduction tip: When signing the agency agreement，be sure to add the "document error compensation clause"，which clearly stipulates that for losses such as port detention fees and customer liquidated damages caused by document problems due to the agent's fault，the agent shall bear a compensation ratio of more than 80%. In addition，you can require the agent to provide a pre-audit report before submitting documents for each batch，which shall be reviewed by your side before being submitted to the customs.
Cindy ChenYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Key Account ManagerStart a Chat
When evaluating an export agent company, you should focus on its core customs declaration capabilities: First, the customs declaration error rate. You should require the agent to provide data of the past year, and the excellent industry level should be lower than 0.5%. Excessively high error rate is likely to trigger customs supervision and control as well as customs seizure.
Second, the capability of handling customs valuation disputes. You should ask about its past cases of handling customs valuation objections, and whether it can provide valid supporting materials such as original factory invoices, trade contracts, foreign exchange payment vouchers within 3 working days to resolve disputes quickly. Third, experience in integrated customs clearance operation.
You should check whether it is familiar with the national integrated customs clearance process, and can realize local customs declaration and port release, which greatly shortens the customs clearance time. In addition, you should confirm whether it has dedicated staff to coordinate customs inspection and verification work, to avoid subsequent inspection risks caused by inconsistent customs declaration data.
Daniel XuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Director of Import & Export OperationsStart a Chat
When evaluating an export agent company, you should focus on its logistics management and control capabilities: First, details of cargo right control. You should confirm whether the agent strictly follows your instructions to endorse the bill of lading, to avoid the risk of unauthorized transfer of cargo rights.
Second, abnormal logistics handling capability. You should ask whether it has feasible alternative plans that can be implemented within 24 hours when encountering emergencies such as container rolling, space overbooking, port change, etc., such as urgently booking space from other shipping companies, coordinating and applying for extension of free storage period, etc. Third, fee transparency.
You should require the agent to provide the full-link logistics fee details, clarify the division of responsibilities for container detention fees, storage fees, etc., to avoid hidden charges. In addition, you can learn about its cooperation level with shipping companies, and whether it can get priority space in peak seasons to reduce the risk of delay caused by space overbooking.
Grace WangYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Foreign Trade ConsultantStart a Chat
When evaluating an export agent company, you should focus on its cross-border tax service capabilities: First, VAT deferral implementation capability. You should check whether it is familiar with the VAT deferral policies of major markets such as the European Union and the United Kingdom, and can assist you in completing the deferral application, reasonably delay the payment of import value-added tax, and ease the pressure of capital occupation.
Second, export tax rebate efficiency. You should ask about the average time limit of its past tax rebate declarations. The excellent industry level is to complete the declaration within 30 days after the goods are declared for export, and the tax rebate arrival rate reaches 100%.
Third, compliance of tax planning. You should check whether it can provide legal tax optimization schemes combined with your business model, such as adjusting the transaction structure to reduce the overall tax burden, while ensuring compliance with international tax rules such as BEPS, to avoid the risk of cross-border tax inspection. In addition, you should confirm whether it has dedicated staff to follow up the latest changes in cross-border tax policies and adjust the service scheme in a timely manner.
Kevin LinYears of service：4Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Solutions ManagerStart a Chat
When evaluating an export agent company, you should focus on its cross-border payment and receipt compliance capabilities: First, foreign exchange settlement efficiency. You should confirm whether it can complete the foreign exchange settlement within 24 hours after receiving the foreign exchange, and provide clear settlement vouchers to avoid capital occupation. Second, professionalism in message processing.
You should check whether it is familiar with the standardized message filling of SWIFT and CIPS systems, which can effectively avoid the delay or return of foreign exchange arrival caused by wrong message information. Third, offshore account management capability. You should check whether it can assist you in the compliant operation and maintenance of offshore accounts, ensure that the payment and receipt operations comply with the regulatory requirements of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and offshore jurisdictions, and avoid accounts being frozen or cancelled. In addition, you should confirm whether it has a professional compliance review team that can investigate potential risks in payment and receipt in advance to ensure the compliance of the whole transaction chain.
Linda GaoYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0
Documentation SupervisorStart a Chat
When evaluating an export agent company, you should focus on its legal support capabilities: First, the rigor of agreement clauses. You should confirm whether the cooperation agreement provided by the agent clearly defines the rights and obligations of both parties, especially the division of responsibilities in scenarios such as cargo detention at port, customs seizure, document errors, etc., to avoid disputes caused by ambiguous clauses. Second, risk guarantee mechanism.
You should check whether it can assist you in improving the force majeure clause in the trade contract, and clarify the responsibility definition and loss sharing in case of emergencies such as epidemics and port strikes. Third, intellectual property protection capability. You should check whether it can assist you in handling the customs protection record of intellectual property rights, to avoid the goods being seized at the port of destination due to infringement. In addition, you should confirm whether it can review documents such as letters of credit and trade contracts for you, effectively identify soft clauses and trap clauses, and avoid legal risks.
Jason WuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
International Logistics & Supply Chain ManagerStart a Chat
When evaluating an export agent company, you should focus on its on-site inspection response capabilities: First, on-site inspection coordination efficiency. When the goods are under customs supervision and inspection, whether it has dedicated staff to arrive at the inspection site within 2 hours, quickly provide required documents, samples and other materials, and assist the customs in completing the inspection. Second, standardization of seal management.
You should check whether it strictly implements the process of seal collection, pasting and verification, to ensure that the seals of goods are intact during transportation, and avoid the risk of goods being swapped or lost. Third, follow-up capability for inspection and appraisal. When inspection and appraisal are required, whether it can follow up the whole process and obtain the official appraisal report within 10 working days, to reduce the cargo detention time at the port. In addition, you should confirm whether it is familiar with the inspection rules and requirements of different ports, and can guide you to make inspection preparations in advance.
Eric ZhouYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Manager of Foreign Exchange & Tax RebatesStart a Chat
When evaluating an export agent company, you should focus on its export tax rebate compliance service capabilities: First, standardization of document management. You should check whether it can assist you in establishing a complete export tax rebate document archive, to ensure the "consistency of four flows" of documents such as customs declaration forms, input invoices, bills of lading, and foreign exchange receipt vouchers.
Second, response efficiency for tax authority verification letters. When receiving verification letters from tax authorities, whether it can prepare complete transaction supporting materials within 5 working days, assist you in completing the verification process quickly, and avoid tax rebate delay. Third, tax rebate compliance control.
You should check whether it can investigate potential risks in tax rebate declarations in advance, such as inconsistency between commodity codes and the product names on input invoices, overdue foreign exchange receipt time limit, etc., to ensure that the tax rebate declaration is passed at one time, and avoid the risk of tax repayment and fines caused by violations. In addition, you should confirm whether it can conduct regular tax rebate compliance self-inspection for you, and find and correct potential problems in time.
Lucas LiuYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Operations ConsultantStart a Chat
When evaluating an export agent company, you should focus on its supply chain optimization capabilities: First, adaptability of trade terms. You should check whether it can optimize the selection of trade terms for you according to your shipment volume and destination market, such as converting FOB to CIF to lock logistics costs, or adopting EXW to reduce operation complexity.
Second, cost actuarial capability. You should check whether it can provide a full-link cost accounting model, accurately calculate the comprehensive costs of each batch of exports such as agency fees, logistics fees, taxes, insurance premiums, etc., to avoid overspending of hidden costs. Third, inventory linkage planning.
You should check whether it can assist you in realizing the dynamic linkage between export orders and inventory, adjust the production plan according to order forecast, and avoid the risk of inventory overstock or stockout. In addition, you should confirm whether it can adjust the transportation scheme for you in time according to the changes of the international logistics market, such as choosing a transit route instead of direct shipping in peak seasons to reduce costs.