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Is it mandatory for all goods imported into China to complete customs declaration? What are the exception cases?
or complex compliance issues.
clearance and fund security.
I am a small precision instrument dealer based in Shanghai. Last week, 12 precision testing instruments I purchased from Germany just arrived at Yangshan Port, Shanghai. This batch of goods is an urgent order for a domestic automobile manufacturer, and a 5% penalty for breach of contract will be incurred for late delivery.
Yesterday my freight forwarder suddenly called to urge me to complete customs declaration procedures immediately, but I heard from peers that small-batch high-value samples can be exempt from customs declaration. I am really anxious right now. I want to ask: Is it mandatory for all imported goods to declare to customs?
Are there any exceptions for small-batch precision instruments like mine? What serious consequences will there be if I fail to declare in time? Besides, I have never handled import customs declaration before. If I entrust your agency, can you get it done quickly in a compliant way? Will there be any extra hidden fees?
Andy GuoYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Supply Chain Management ExpertStart a Chat
First of all，we need to clarify a common misunderstanding in the industry: many small and medium-sized traders mistakenly believe that small-batch goods，samples or high-value goods are exempt from customs declaration，which is completely wrong. According to the latest regulations of the General Administration of Customs of China (GAC) in 2026，all goods entering China's customs territory must complete customs declaration procedures，except for duty-free trade samples and advertising materials with no commercial value explicitly specified by GAC (such as a single item valued less than 500 RMB and for non-commercial use).
Failure to complete customs declaration as required will trigger a series of cascading negative consequences: failure to declare within 3 days after arrival will incur daily-increasing demurrage，and failure to declare within 7 days will lead to customs detention. You will not only have to pay high demurrage and storage fees，but also face an administrative penalty ranging from 5% to 30% of the goods value，for urgent orders，you will also have to pay the breach penalty for the domestic order，resulting in double losses.
Immediate risk control measures: Immediately abandon the fluke idea of "exemption from declaration"，entrust a qualified foreign trade agency to intervene as soon as possible，and sort out core documents such as goods contract，invoice and packing list simultaneously.
Exclusive Loss Mitigation Tip: The agency can apply for the "Green Channel for Urgent Customs Declaration" to the customs，and at the same time apply for demurrage reduction to the port with the urgent certificate of the domestic order. Up to 80% of the total demurrage can be reduced，which can speed up the release of goods quickly.
Cindy ChenYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Key Account ManagerStart a Chat
The core of import customs declaration is to ensure that the declared content is completely consistent with the actual situation of the goods. The "Intelligent Price Verification System" launched by the customs in 2026 will automatically compare the declared prices of the same category of goods in the past 3 months.
If the declared price deviates from the reasonable range by more than 10%, it will trigger manual price verification. In case of price verification disputes, you need to provide supporting materials such as payment vouchers of the purchase contract, certificate of origin, and brand authorization letter.
If you cannot provide these materials, the customs will levy tariffs based on the fair market price of similar goods. In addition, for goods that require secondary declaration (such as spare parts of complete equipment), you need to clearly mark "supplementary spare parts list will be submitted later" in the first declaration to avoid being identified as inaccurate declaration.
Daniel XuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Director of Import & Export OperationsStart a Chat
7 days before the imported goods arrive at the port, you need to confirm the accuracy of the bill of lading information with the freight forwarder to ensure that the bill of lading title and goods description completely match the customs declaration documents. If you choose a transit route, you need to confirm the free storage period of the transit port in advance to avoid container detention fee caused by document delay during transit.
If the goods are detained at the port due to failure to declare, you need to go through the "port cargo warehouse transfer" procedure in time and transfer the goods to a customs supervised warehouse, which can reduce the daily storage cost by about 30%. In addition, the transfer of cargo title must be completed through bill of lading endorsement. Goods that have not been declared cannot go through bill of lading endorsement, so the cargo title will always remain with the shipper, and there is a risk that the goods will be resold.
Kevin LinYears of service：4Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Solutions ManagerStart a Chat
When handling import customs declaration, you can apply for the "VAT Deferral" policy with relaxed access threshold introduced in 2026, which means you do not need to pay VAT when importing goods, but declare and pay to the tax authority after selling the goods domestically. This policy can greatly ease the capital pressure of small and medium-sized traders, and the current access threshold has been relaxed to enterprises with annual import volume below 5 million RMB.
When applying, you need to provide a letter of intent for the domestic sales contract to prove that the goods will be sold domestically within 3 months. In addition, if the goods are advanced equipment encouraged by the state to import, you can enjoy the tariff reduction and exemption policy, and you need to submit the corresponding supporting materials from the Catalog of National Encouraged Industries to the customs in advance before declaration.
Linda GaoYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0
Documentation SupervisorStart a Chat
After the completion of import customs declaration, you need to go through the foreign exchange purchase and payment procedures with the Import Goods Declaration form issued by the customs. In 2026, the CIPS system has realized real-time connection with the customs declaration system. When purchasing foreign exchange, you need to ensure that the payment amount is consistent with the dutiable price on the declaration form.
If there is a difference, you need to provide an explanation for the difference (such as separate payment vouchers for international freight and insurance premium). In addition, if you use an offshore account to pay for the goods, you need to upload the payment voucher from the offshore account to the cross-border payment and collection system of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange within 15 days after customs declaration, to avoid being identified as non-compliant payment and collection, which will affect your subsequent import payment quota.
Lucas LiuYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Operations ConsultantStart a Chat
If customs inspection is triggered after import declaration, you need to prepare packing list, product instruction manual and other materials in advance to cooperate with the unpacking inspection of customs inspectors. For precision instruments, you need to mark "Fragile, Do Not Invert" on the package when packing in advance, and prepare temporary moisture-proof and shock-proof protective materials to avoid damage to the goods during inspection.
If the machine inspection finds that the internal structure of the goods does not match the declared description, you need to immediately submit supporting materials such as technical drawings and test reports to the customs to prove that the actual use of the goods is consistent with the declaration, so as to avoid being identified as inaccurate declaration.
Evelyn LiYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Cross-border Compliance SupervisorStart a Chat
From the perspective of supply chain planning, the import declaration link needs to be linked with domestic inventory management. If the arrival time of the goods is delayed due to customs declaration delay, you need to adjust the replenishment plan of domestic inventory immediately, and meet the order demand by coordinating emergency replenishment from local suppliers.
In addition, when selecting trade terms, if you adopt CIF terms, you need to clarify the customs declaration responsibility of the freight forwarder to avoid risks caused by the freight forwarder's failure to declare in time; if you adopt FOB terms, you need to entrust a domestic customs declaration company to pre-review documents in advance, to ensure that customs declaration procedures can be handled immediately after the goods arrive at the port, and shorten the stay time of the goods in the port.