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Is Administrative Permission Required for Agency Import of Special Supervised Categories Such as Food and Hazardous Chemicals?
or complex compliance issues.
clearance and fund security.
I am the purchasing head of a small food trading company based in Shanghai. Last week, I heard that a batch of infant formula milk powder imported by a peer through an agent was detained by customs due to lack of import food recordal permit, which cost more than 100,000 yuan in demurrage and facilitation fees to solve, and the delivery was delayed for half a month, causing heavy losses.
I am going to entrust your company to handle the agency import of a batch of New Zealand infant formula milk powder and ordinary whole milk powder, and I am very worried: on the one hand, I am not clear whether I need to provide the permit for agency import of such special food, or is your agent responsible for applying for it? On the other hand, for ordinary categories such as regular whole milk powder, can it clear customs without any permit at all?
If I get the permit requirements wrong, will I also be detained like my peer? Please clarify this for me.
Victor SunYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Risk Control ManagerStart a Chat
There are two main common misunderstandings in the industry: first，it is believed that the agency can handle all administrative permissions without the entrusting party providing any qualifications，second，it is defaulted that ordinary goods can clear customs without any compliance review.
If these misunderstandings are stepped on，a chain of negative reactions will quickly occur: for special categories such as infant formula milk powder，without permission documents such as registration and recordal of overseas food production enterprises and entry inspection and quarantine certificate，the goods will be directly detained by customs. High demurrage and storage charges will be incurred if the goods are detained at the port for more than 14 days，and they may be destroyed by law if the problem is not solved within 3 months，meanwhile，the entrusting party will be included in the customs credit warning list，affecting all subsequent import business.
Physical risk isolation measures need to be implemented in advance: first，the agent accurately classifies the supervision category of the goods，clearly requires the entrusting party to provide corresponding permission documents for special categories，and the agent conducts triple pre-audit of documents (validity of qualification，matching of commodity category，coverage of validity period)，for ordinary goods，it is also necessary to check whether they belong to implicitly supervised categories (for example，some ordinary foods need to provide certificate of origin).
Exclusive loss mitigation tips: if the entrusting party cannot provide complete permission temporarily，the agent can assist in applying for customs security release，withdraw the goods to the customs supervision warehouse first，and complete customs clearance after the permission documents are completed，so as to avoid demurrage losses，at the same time，the agent can connect with the customs pre-audit channel in advance to check potential compliance gaps.
Andy GuoYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Supply Chain Management ExpertStart a Chat
When customs declares for agency imported goods, the customs will first check the supervision condition code of the goods through HS Code. If the code involves special identifiers such as "A" (Customs Clearance Sheet for Inbound Goods), "B" (Customs Clearance Sheet for Outbound Goods) or "L" (Entry Verification for Civilian Commodities), the corresponding administrative permission documents must be submitted. Take infant formula milk powder as an example, the supervision code corresponding to its HS Code contains "A", and it is required to submit a full set of permission documents including registration certificate of overseas production enterprise, recordal certificate of import food consignee, certificate of origin, sanitary certificate, etc. If the complete documents are not submitted during declaration, the customs will directly trigger risk control inspection, requiring supplement within 3 working days.
If not supplemented within the time limit, the declaration will be rejected or the goods will be detained, resulting in additional costs such as demurrage and storage. In addition, if the permission information does not match the commodity information, for example, the recorded milk powder brand and batch do not match the actual arrival, it will be determined as false declaration, facing a fine of 5%-30% of the goods value, and will also affect the enterprise's customs credit rating, and the inspection rate will be increased for subsequent import customs clearance.
Grace WangYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Foreign Trade ConsultantStart a Chat
If the goods are detained by customs due to lack of permission during agency import, a series of chain problems will be triggered at the logistics end: first, the goods will be transferred to the customs supervision warehouse, incurring daily storage and demurrage charges. In some ports, the demurrage will double from the 7th day; if the problem is not solved within more than 1 month, the shipping company will list the goods in the unclaimed list and start the auction or destruction process, and the title to the goods will be completely lost.
For such risks, the countermeasures that can be taken in advance at the logistics end include: 72 hours before the goods arrive at the port, the agent completes the pre-audit of documents. If lack of permission is found, the agent can apply to adjust the shipping schedule or temporarily divert the goods to a nearby port with a bonded warehouse, store the goods in the bonded warehouse, and transfer the goods to the destination port for customs clearance after the permission is completed; at the same time, the title to the goods can be locked in advance by telex release bill of lading to avoid malicious encroachment of title by third parties due to customs detention.
Daniel XuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Director of Import & Export OperationsStart a Chat
If the goods are detained due to lack of permission during agency import, it will not only generate logistics costs, but also trigger chain tax-related risks: first, because the goods cannot clear customs normally, the customs import VAT special payment receipt cannot be obtained, resulting in the inability to deduct input VAT and increasing the enterprise's tax burden; if the detained goods are eventually destroyed, the enterprise cannot include the goods cost in profit and loss, and has to bear all the goods value loss by itself, and cannot apply for pre-tax deduction.
In addition, if the enterprise is identified as illegal import by customs due to lack of permission, it will be included in the key monitoring list by the tax department, and subsequent export tax refund and tax declaration will be strictly checked. For such risks, VAT deferral declaration can be used in advance to suspend the payment of import VAT first, and complete the deduction after the permission is completed and the goods clear customs, so as to ease the capital pressure; at the same time, the agent can be entrusted to conduct tax compliance pre-audit in advance to ensure that all processes meet the tax requirements.
Kevin LinYears of service：4Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Solutions ManagerStart a Chat
If the goods cannot clear customs normally due to lack of permission during agency import, it will directly affect the compliance of cross-border foreign exchange collection and payment: first, when handling foreign exchange purchase or payment procedures, banks need to review documents such as customs import declaration. If valid declaration cannot be provided, the bank will refuse to handle the collection and payment business, resulting in the enterprise's inability to pay the supplier overseas and incurring breach of contract risk; at the same time, if the goods are detained for a long time, the enterprise cannot complete foreign exchange verification, and will be included in the watch list by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and the subsequent cross-border foreign exchange collection and payment quota will be restricted, and even cross-border settlement business cannot be carried out.
For such risks, cross-border RMB settlement can be adopted in advance, and payment can be handled through the CIPS system. In some cases, foreign exchange payment filing can be handled in advance with the agency agreement and pre-order; at the same time, the agent is responsible for tracking the issuance progress of the customs declaration to ensure timely matching of collection and payment documents.
Lucas LiuYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Operations ConsultantStart a Chat
In the agency import contract, the division of liabilities for administrative permission is one of the core clauses. If it is not clearly agreed, once losses occur due to lack of permission, disputes are likely to arise between the two parties. According to the provisions of the Foreign Trade Law of the People's Republic of China, the entrusting party shall provide all the qualification documents required for agency import, and the agent is only responsible for handling customs clearance procedures within the qualification scope provided by the entrusting party. If customs detention and fines are caused by the entrusting party's failure to provide valid permission documents, the loss shall be borne by the entrusting party; if the loss is caused by the agent's failure to audit the validity of the qualification, the agent shall bear corresponding compensation liabilities.
To avoid such disputes, the contract shall clearly stipulate that: the entrusting party shall provide all permission documents 10 days before the goods arrive at the port, and the agent shall complete the audit within 3 working days, and notify the entrusting party immediately if any problem is found; at the same time, a force majeure clause shall be added. If the permission requirements change due to policy adjustment, the two parties can negotiate to adjust the contract content.
Michael ZhangYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Customs Declaration & Compliance ExpertStart a Chat
During on-site customs inspection, the customs will focus on checking the consistency between the administrative permission documents and the goods, especially for special categories such as infant formula milk powder. The inspector will check whether the recorded brand, batch, production enterprise information match the actual goods, and check the validity of the entry inspection and quarantine certificate. If the permission documents are missing or do not match, the inspector will issue a Customs Inspection Notice on the spot, requiring the enterprise to supplement the documents within the specified time limit.
If not supplemented within the time limit, the goods will be moved to the supervision warehouse and detained. For such situations, the electronic and hard copies of permission documents shall be prepared in advance for on-site response to ensure that the documents are clear and recognizable; if some documents cannot be provided temporarily, you can apply to the inspector for delayed submission on the spot, which can be extended for up to 3 working days; at the same time, you can entrust the agent's on-site representative to accompany the inspection, answer customs questions in time, and avoid misunderstanding caused by poor communication.
Evelyn LiYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Cross-border Compliance SupervisorStart a Chat
When agency importing special foods such as infant formula milk powder, packaging compliance is also a hidden link in permission audit: if the packaging does not meet China's food packaging safety standards, even if the import food recordal permit is obtained, the goods may still be detained by customs. According to the General Safety Requirements for Food Contact Materials and Articles, imported food packaging must meet the GB 4806 series standards, and provide a declaration of conformity for packaging materials.
If the packaging does not meet the requirements, for example, unrecorded plastic packaging materials are used, or the Chinese label on the packaging does not meet the regulations, it will be determined as not meeting food safety standards, and cannot pass inspection and quarantine, which will affect customs clearance. For such risks, the agent can be entrusted to pre-audit the packaging samples provided by overseas suppliers in advance, to ensure that the Chinese label contains all mandatory information such as product name, ingredient list, production date, expiration date, and at the same time require the supplier to provide the declaration of conformity of packaging materials, so as to avoid affecting the validity of permission due to packaging problems.
Linda GaoYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0
Documentation SupervisorStart a Chat
From the perspective of supply chain structure, the permit requirements for agency import directly affect the turnover efficiency and cost control of goods: if the permit processing cycle for special categories is too long, the goods cannot clear customs in time after arrival at the port, which prolongs the inventory turnover time and increases storage costs; if frequent customs detention caused by lack of permission affects the supply chain stability of the enterprise, and even loses the trust of customers.
For such problems, the supply chain optimization scheme of "advance permit application + bonded warehouse storage" can be adopted: before the goods are produced, entrust the agent to handle the import food recordal permit in advance to ensure that the permit document has taken effect when the goods arrive at the port; at the same time, part of the goods can be stored in the bonded warehouse, and customs clearance can be carried out in batches according to market demand, reducing inventory backlog caused by permission problems. In addition, a commodity supervision category database can be established to classify all goods imported by agency in advance, clarify the permit requirements, and avoid compliance risks caused by commodity misclassification.