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What Core Qualifications and Pre-Approval Conditions Are Required to Register an Import and Export Agent Company?
or complex compliance issues.
clearance and fund security.
I have worked as a foreign trade salesperson for 5 years and just quit my job last month to start my own import and export agent company. I used to handle some customs declaration and foreign exchange payment and collection procedures for my previous employer, but I know nothing about the expertise of company registration. I just rented an office in Shanghai last week, signed a one-year contract, and am waiting for the registration to be approved to serve the customer resources I accumulated before.
But now I am completely confused: I don't know what qualifications I need to apply for first. I heard that import and export operation right is a must-have, but how to apply for it specifically? Besides, how to draft the business scope during registration to cover core businesses such as agent foreign exchange payment and collection and customs declaration?
I am afraid that missing an approval step or filling wrong information will get my application rejected. If it delays for months, I will waste all the customer resources from this year's Autumn Canton Fair. I am so anxious that I can't sleep well. Can you help me sort this out clearly?
Daniel XuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Director of Import & Export OperationsStart a Chat
First of all，for the details of pre-document review，you need to prepare 3 types of core materials in advance: First，office location certificate. In Shanghai，you are required to provide a Red-Book Lease Certificate (provide property ownership certificate if you own the office)，and the address must be exactly the same as your subsequent industrial and commercial registration address，Second，personnel qualification materials，you need at least one in-service employee who holds the Foreign Trade Salesperson Qualification Certificate，and some districts also require social insurance proof，Third，pre-verification materials for business scope，you need to clearly mark core items such as "Import and Export of Goods，Import and Export of Technology，Agent Import and Export"，"International Freight Forwarding"，"Customs Declaration and Inspection Agency" to avoid delays from subsequent business scope addition.
Connection of core nodes shall proceed in the following order: Step 1，complete industrial and commercial name verification and registration first，apply for Import and Export Operation Right immediately after obtaining the business license (submit materials through the "Single Window"，approval can be obtained within 3-5 working days)，Step 2，go to the customs to apply for the Certificate of Registration for Customs Declaration Entity，and complete the application for E-port IC Card simultaneously，Step 3，go to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) to complete Registration in the Trade in Goods Foreign Exchange Receipt and Payment Directory，which is a necessary prerequisite for carrying out foreign exchange payment and collection business.
Contingency plans shall be formulated in advance: if industrial and commercial name verification is rejected due to duplicate name，prepare 3-5 alternative names in advance，and avoid using common prefixes such as "International" and "Global"，if the application for import and export operation right is rejected due to unqualified personnel，you can temporarily use the qualification of a qualified third-party personnel (a formal labor agreement is required)，if the registration of foreign exchange directory is delayed，you can apply for a temporary foreign exchange payment and collection quota for emergency.
When finally completing the compliant establishment，you shall archive all qualification documents，and complete export tax rebate qualification filing with the tax bureau within 30 days after opening the business，to ensure the full process compliance of subsequent business.
Michael ZhangYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Customs Declaration & Compliance ExpertStart a Chat
When registering an import and export agent company, 3 key details shall be noted in the customs declaration entity registration link: First, you need to appoint one full-time customs declaration supervisor, who has at least 1 year of practical customs declaration experience, and some direct customs authorities require past customs declaration records as proof; Second, the registration address must have a fixed office space, you can provide a list of office equipment (such as customs-dedicated computer, printer, etc.) during on-site customs inspection, and a networked system is required to connect to the customs single window; Third, if you will engage in bonded goods agency business in the future, you need to apply for the filing of bonded supervision place at the same time of registration, otherwise you cannot carry out bonded warehousing, entrepot trade and other businesses.
In addition, you shall avoid being unable to complete customs declaration entity registration because the business scope does not cover "customs declaration agency". If you have already completed registration, you can add the business scope through industrial and commercial change and supplement the information afterwards, but it will take an extra 10-15 working days.
Victor SunYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Risk Control ManagerStart a Chat
When registering an import and export agent company, 3 aspects shall be focused on in tax structure design: First, the choice of registration address, parks such as Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area can enjoy 30%-50% refund of the local retained portion of value-added tax, you need to confirm the park's access requirements in advance (such as annual revenue requirement, tax threshold, etc.); Second, the choice of taxpayer status, if you expect annual agency revenue to exceed 5 million yuan, you shall register as a general taxpayer directly, which can enjoy the input tax deduction policy; if the revenue is relatively low, you can register as a small-scale taxpayer first and upgrade later; Third, cross-border tax planning, you need to plan the related party transaction pricing mechanism in advance, avoid triggering BEPS investigation due to unreasonable pricing, you can refer to the average profit margin of the same industry to set the pricing standard, to ensure compliance with the arm's length principle. In addition, you need to complete tax real-name authentication at the same time of registration, and appoint a dedicated person to be responsible for tax declaration.
Andy GuoYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Supply Chain Management ExpertStart a Chat
When registering an import and export agent company, 3 preparations shall be done in advance for foreign exchange receipt and payment compliance: First, when applying for registration in the Trade in Goods Foreign Exchange Receipt and Payment Directory, you need to provide bank statements of the past 6 months (for new companies, you can provide shareholders' personal bank statements), some local SAFE branches require the total flow amount to be no less than 100,000 yuan; Second, you need to open a basic deposit account during registration, and make an appointment to open a foreign currency settlement account at the same time, the name of the foreign currency account must be exactly the same as the enterprise name registered in the foreign exchange directory, to avoid inconsistent account name problems in subsequent foreign exchange receipt and payment; Third, you need to familiarize yourself with the operation process of CIPS in advance, if you involve RMB cross-border receipt and payment, you need to complete CIPS access filing after registration, to ensure the timeliness and compliance of capital settlement. In addition, you shall avoid using personal accounts to collect and pay corporate payments on behalf, otherwise you will be listed as a key supervised entity by SAFE.
Lucas LiuYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Operations ConsultantStart a Chat
When registering an import and export agent company, 3 core links shall be noted for legal risk prevention and control: First, the signing of the shareholder agreement, you need to clarify shareholders' capital contribution ratio, profit distribution mechanism, exit clauses, etc., to avoid affecting corporate operation due to equity disputes in the future; Second, the legal boundary of business scope, you shall avoid operating business beyond the approved scope, for example, engaging in international shipping agency business without approval will face a fine of up to 100,000 yuan; Third, the formulation of standardized agency contract templates, you need to draft a standardized import and export agency contract immediately after registration is completed, clarify cargo title ownership, responsibility division, force majeure clauses and other contents, to avoid legal disputes caused by vague contract terms. In addition, if you involve intellectual property agency business, you need to complete intellectual property customs protection filing in advance to ensure the intellectual property compliance of the agency goods.
Evelyn LiYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Cross-border Compliance SupervisorStart a Chat
When registering an import and export agent company, 3 preparations shall be done in advance for export tax rebate qualification filing: First, you need to clearly mark "Import and Export of Goods" and "Import and Export of Technology" in the business scope of your business license, otherwise you cannot apply for export tax rebate qualification; Second, you need to prepare materials such as bank opening permit, import and export operation right certificate, customs declaration entity registration certificate, etc., and ensure that the original and copy of the materials are consistent when submitting to the tax bureau; Third, you need to appoint a dedicated person to be responsible for export tax rebate declaration, who is proficient in operating the export tax rebate declaration system, and some tax bureaus require the training certificate of this person. In addition, you shall avoid triggering export tax rebate correspondence investigation due to incomplete document filing, you need to establish a complete document management system after registration, and archive and keep documents such as customs declaration, bill of lading, contract for at least 10 years.
Linda GaoYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0
Documentation SupervisorStart a Chat
When registering an import and export agent company, 3 aspects shall be focused on in supply chain structure design: First, the supply chain supporting facilities of the registration address, give priority to parks close to ports and bonded areas, such as the surrounding areas of Shanghai Waigaoqiao and Yangshan Port, which can reduce logistics costs and cargo transit time; Second, connect cooperation resources in advance, you need to sign framework cooperation agreements with at least 2-3 international logistics companies and customs brokers before registration is completed, to ensure you can start business quickly after opening; Third, the formulation of inventory linkage strategies, if you involve agency procurement business, you need to establish an inventory sharing mechanism with suppliers in advance, to avoid capital occupation caused by inventory backlog. In addition, you need to plan the conversion process of trade terms such as CIF and FOB in advance, formulate flexible quotation schemes according to customer needs, and improve market competitiveness.