Do importers need to entrust an agent for customs clearance? What are the core risks of self-clearance?

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  • Aug 13, 2026 at 15:56
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I am the person in charge of a small food trading company in Shanghai that has just entered the import business. Recently, we imported a batch of infant formula from New Zealand for the first time, originally planned for the Mid-Autumn Festival sales peak.

However, the freight forwarder reminded me yesterday that self-clearance may lead to customs detention and high demurrage charges, which makes me very anxious now. Our company does not have a dedicated customs declarant, and we have no idea of the latest 2026 customs clearance requirements for infant food, such as what specific documents need to be prepared and what the specific inspection and quarantine procedures are, let alone responding to possible abnormal situations.

If this batch of goods is detained at the port, we will not only miss the peak season and pay liquidated damages to customers, but also may damage the reputation of the company's fledgling import business. I would like to know whether I should find a customs clearance agent in this situation? Are there any potential risks that I have not realized?

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Expert Q&A

Lucas Liu
Lucas LiuYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0

Senior Operations ConsultantStart a Chat

First of all，we need to clarify a common industry misunderstanding: many new importers believe that "as long as there are documents，they can clear customs by themselves"，ignoring the segmented compliance requirements of the customs for different categories of goods. For example，in 2026，the customs added a full-chain traceability certificate review link for infant formula，so self-clearance is very likely to trigger customs detention due to missing document details or non-standard procedures.

If there is an operational error in self-clearance，it will first trigger an abnormality in customs document review. Demurrage charges will be incurred if the goods are detained at the port for more than 48 hours，and they may be transferred to the customs supervised warehouse if detained for more than 7 days，which will not only double the costs，but also make you miss the sales peak，and even face a chain reaction of customer claims and damaged brand reputation.

The effective risk isolation measure is to choose an agency with more than 10 years of experience in import food customs clearance，and submit all documents 3 days in advance for pre-audit to ensure that core documents such as traceability codes and certificates of origin meet the latest 2026 requirements.

Exclusive Loss Mitigation Tip: Sign an "exception compensation agreement" with the agent，stipulating that if demurrage or customs detention is caused by the agent's operational error，the agent shall bear the corresponding demurrage charges and delay losses. At the same time，require the agent to provide 24-hour on-site customs docking service to handle unexpected problems as soon as possible.

Reference: Analysis of the Specificities of Mechanical Equipment Exports: Review of Qualification Requirements and Technical Challenges in Customs Declaration Processes
Andy Guo
Andy GuoYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0

Supply Chain Management ExpertStart a Chat

For strictly regulated imported goods such as infant formula, the customs requires complete full-chain traceability certificates in 2026, including 12 core documents such as the filing number of overseas manufacturing enterprises, the filing number of domestic consignees, and the traceability code of milk powder batches. If any of these items is missing in self-clearance, it will directly trigger document review rejection, and the data needs to be resubmitted, delaying the entire process by at least 3 to 5 days.

In addition, if the declared price deviates from the market benchmark price by more than 10% in the customs valuation link, the price query procedure will be initiated. Due to the lack of professional valuation experience in self-clearance, it is easy to fall into long-term price negotiations, leading to extended port detention time of goods.

Kevin Lin
Kevin LinYears of service：4Customer Rating：5.0

Trade Solutions ManagerStart a Chat

From the perspective of logistics chain, after imported goods arrive at the port, the customs clearance agent can directly dock with the port yard and inspection and quarantine institutions to realize seamless connection of document circulation and container pickup. In contrast, self-clearance often requires queuing for container pickup procedures due to lack of port resources, resulting in extra container detention charges of at least 2 days.

For perishable goods such as infant formula, the customs clearance agent can arrange priority access to the green channel for inspection and quarantine to ensure that the goods are inspected and picked up within 24 hours, while self-clearance cannot enjoy such resources. In case of port congestion, the delay may be 5 to 7 days, and the quality of goods may also be affected by long-term port detention.

Grace Wang
Grace WangYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0

Senior Foreign Trade ConsultantStart a Chat

The 2026 import value-added tax (VAT) deferral policy is only open to agencies with professional customs clearance qualifications. Self-clearance cannot enjoy this policy, and full import VAT must be paid at the time of customs clearance, which occupies a large amount of working capital of enterprises. Take a batch of infant formula with a cargo value of 1 million yuan as an example, the import VAT rate is 13%, so self-clearance requires a one-time tax payment of 130,000 yuan.

By applying for VAT deferral through a customs clearance agent, the tax payment time can be delayed to the declaration period of the next month, which is equivalent to obtaining an interest-free loan and easing the capital pressure of enterprises during the peak season. In addition, the customs clearance agent can assist enterprises to apply for tax reduction and exemption in the import phase, for example, eligible infant formula can enjoy tariff reduction and exemption, and self-clearance is easy to miss such preferences due to unfamiliarity with policies.

Linda Gao
Linda GaoYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0

Documentation SupervisorStart a Chat

From the perspective of cross-border payment and receipt compliance, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) requires that the payment voucher for imported goods must fully match the customs clearance documents in 2026, including core information such as goods name, quantity and amount. If the document information is inconsistent in self-clearance, the foreign exchange payment will be warned by SAFE, affecting the subsequent foreign exchange purchase quota of the enterprise, and even triggering foreign exchange compliance inspection.

The customs clearance agent can review the consistency of the payment voucher and customs clearance documents in advance to ensure that the information is fully matched. At the same time, it can use the CIPS (Cross-border Interbank Payment System) to optimize the foreign exchange purchase rate, saving 1% to 2% of the exchange difference cost for enterprises. Especially when the exchange rate fluctuates greatly during the peak season, this part of the saved cost can cover the customs clearance agent fee.

Eric Zhou
Eric ZhouYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0

Senior Manager of Foreign Exchange & Tax RebatesStart a Chat

For the control of cargo rights of imported goods, if problems such as customs detention and port demurrage occur in self-clearance, enterprises cannot submit compliance appeals to the customs and port in time due to lack of professional legal knowledge, which may lead to the confiscation or auction of goods. The customs clearance agent can assist enterprises to formulate a cargo right protection plan, for example, agree on the conditions for cargo right transfer in advance during the bill of lading endorsement link, to ensure that enterprises can control the cargo right as soon as possible when there is an abnormality in the goods.

In addition, the customs clearance agent can assist enterprises to handle document disputes with overseas suppliers. For example, if the certificate of origin provided by the supplier does not meet the requirements, the agent can assist the enterprise to require the supplier to reissue it, avoiding customs clearance delay caused by document problems and reducing the legal risk of the enterprise at the same time.

Victor Sun
Victor SunYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0

Trade Risk Control ManagerStart a Chat

Infant formula belongs to the category of key inspection by the customs, and the on-site inspection rate of the customs will be increased to 30% in 2026. Due to unfamiliarity with the on-site inspection process, self-clearance is prone to operational errors in the container unpacking and sampling links, leading to extended inspection time.

The on-site specialists of the customs clearance agent are familiar with the customs inspection requirements, and can prepare the tools and materials required for sampling in advance to ensure that the inspection is completed within 4 hours. In addition, if there is a customs inspection requirement, the agent can directly dock with the designated inspection institution to speed up the issuance of the test report, while self-clearance may be delayed by 7 to 10 days due to unfamiliarity with the inspection submission process, resulting in the goods not being available for sale on time.

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