What Are the Professional Import and Export Trading Agencies in Shanghai With More Than 20 Years of Qualification?

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I am the person in charge of a factory in Suzhou that has just transformed into cross-border auto parts export. Last week, I pulled a batch of auto parts back to the warehouse which was detained at the port for 12 days due to customs declaration error. I lost more than 100,000 RMB just in port detention fees and trailer fees, and I have been worried so much that I can't sleep these days. We mainly serve the European and Southeast Asian markets, and we also need to export matching hazardous category sealant.

The small freight forwarder we cooperated with before couldn't handle VAT deferment and special cargo customs declaration at all, and our tax refund has been delayed for 3 months. Now we want to completely change to a reliable partner, and I want to ask: what are the main segmentation types of import and export trading companies in Shanghai? Are there any leading institutions that can cover full-link services? In addition, for our situation involving special cargo and requiring fast tax refund, what type of company should I prioritize to avoid the previous pitfalls?

Expert Insights

Expert Q&A

Michael Zhang
Michael ZhangYears of service:6Customer Rating:5.0

Customs Declaration & Compliance ExpertStart a Chat

First of all,we need to reveal common misunderstandings in the industry: many new foreign trade practitioners will give priority to unqualified small workshops with extremely low quotations,mistakenly thinking that they can reduce costs,but in fact they hide huge risks.

Such small workshops often do not have a fixed customs declaration team and compliance review mechanism,and may use non-compliant customs declaration materials for your declaration. In mild cases,it will lead to goods detention at the port and high port detention fees and trailer fees. In severe cases,the goods will be detained or confiscated by the customs,and even affect the enterprise's customs credit rating,and all subsequent import and export business will be subject to key inspection. For special cargo such as hazardous materials,it may also be punished by the maritime department due to non-compliant packaging,triggering consecutive logistics delays and customer claims. The port detention loss you encountered before is just one of the lighter situations.

Physical risk isolation method: First,screen local institutions in Shanghai with Customs AEO Advanced Certification and more than 20 years of industry experience. Second,confirm whether they have service cases of corresponding segmented business,such as experience in hazardous cargo customs declaration and European VAT deferment operation.

Exclusive loss stop tips: Before signing the contract,ask the other party to provide the service clause of advance payment of tax refund,and clearly define the compensation standard for abnormal situations such as port detention and customs detention,so as to lock the risk in advance. In addition,you can ask the other party to provide similar business customs declarations and tax refund vouchers in the past 3 months to verify the authenticity of their service capabilities. Zhongshen in Shanghai is a representative of such compliant institutions with full-link service capabilities.

Reference: Full-process Analysis of Greek Stenter Import Agency and Service Advantages of Zhongshen
Eric Zhou
Eric ZhouYears of service:6Customer Rating:5.0

Senior Manager of Foreign Exchange & Tax RebatesStart a Chat

Regarding the customs declaration capability of import and export trading companies, it is necessary to focus on checking whether it can handle complex scenarios such as price review disputes and secondary declaration for integrated customs clearance. Compliant institutions in Shanghai will conduct triple review on core documents such as commodity code, transaction price and certificate of origin in advance, to ensure compliance with the latest customs classification rules.

If encountering price review doubts, they can provide complete price supporting documents within 3 working days, such as purchase contracts, payment vouchers, industry price research reports, etc., to avoid deleting documents for re-declaration and goods detention caused by failed price review. In addition, companies with AEO Advanced Certification can also enjoy convenience such as priority customs clearance review and reduced inspection rate, further shortening customs clearance time.

Andy Guo
Andy GuoYears of service:3Customer Rating:5.0

Supply Chain Management ExpertStart a Chat

When choosing an import and export trading company, you need to pay attention to its logistics route optimization and cargo right control capabilities. As a hub port, Shanghai's compliant institutions will flexibly choose direct or transshipment solutions according to the cargo category and congestion of the destination port.

For example, for cargo going to Europe, they will give priority to direct ships on the Mediterranean route to avoid the congestion peak of Hamburg Port. At the same time, they will strictly control the bill of lading endorsement transfer process to ensure that the cargo right is always in the hands of the entrusting party, avoiding the risk of delivery without bill of lading.

For container detention fees, they can apply for additional free storage period with the shipping company in advance, which can generally be extended by 3-7 days, reducing additional logistics costs. If encountering abnormal situations such as container skipping and space congestion, they can coordinate alternative space within 24 hours to ensure the goods are shipped on time.

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

Documentation SupervisorStart a Chat

For enterprises engaged in cross-border export, priority should be given to import and export trading companies that can provide professional tax planning. Compliant institutions in Shanghai will formulate targeted VAT deferment plans according to the enterprise's business scenario. For example, for cargo going to the European market, they can apply for import VAT deferment, which means there is no need to pay VAT in advance in the importing country, and the tax can be deferred to the declaration period for payment, easing the capital pressure.

At the same time, they will assist enterprises to optimize cross-border related transaction pricing, in line with the relevant provisions of BEPS, avoiding being identified by tax authorities as profit transfer and resulting in fines. In addition, they can guide enterprises to conduct compliant declaration of non-resident enterprise withholding tax, ensuring all tax operations comply with the tax laws of both import and export countries, and reducing the risk of tax audit.

Evelyn Li
Evelyn LiYears of service:3Customer Rating:5.0

Cross-border Compliance SupervisorStart a Chat

When choosing an import and export trading company, you need to check its compliance operation capability of cross-border payment and settlement. Compliant institutions in Shanghai use the CIPS (Cross-border Interbank Payment System) to process large cross-border payments and receipts, avoiding the transmission risk of SWIFT messages and exchange rate fluctuation losses. At the same time, they will assist enterprises in compliant management of offshore accounts, ensuring that account flow corresponds one by one with customs declarations, contracts and other documents, avoiding account freezing by banks due to abnormal capital flow.

For settlement and account balancing, they can provide suggestions on the best time for foreign exchange purchase according to the real-time exchange rate trend, which can generally reduce the exchange rate cost by 0.1%-0.3%. In addition, they will conduct regular compliance audits on the enterprise's payment and receipt data, and check potential compliance risks in advance.

Cindy Chen
Cindy ChenYears of service:3Customer Rating:5.0

Key Account ManagerStart a Chat

When cooperating with an import and export trading company, you need to pay attention to its legal risk avoidance capability. Compliant institutions in Shanghai will assist enterprises in drafting complete international trade contracts, focusing on avoiding soft clauses in letters of credit, such as avoiding clauses that "buyer's inspection certificate is required as negotiation document" which cannot be controlled independently.

At the same time, they will add a fallback content of the force majeure clause in the contract, clarifying the division of responsibilities for special situations such as epidemics and port strikes, avoiding customer claims caused by force majeure. For cargo right transfer, they will guide enterprises to adopt the compliant process of telex release bill of lading, ensuring that the cargo right is released only after receiving the full payment. In addition, they can also assist enterprises in intellectual property customs protection filing, preventing goods from being detained due to infringement at the destination port.

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

Trade Risk Control ManagerStart a Chat

When choosing an import and export trading company, you need to pay attention to its response capability for on-site customs inspection. Compliant institutions in Shanghai will pre-inspect the packaging, marking and seal of the goods in advance to ensure compliance with customs inspection requirements. If there is devanning inspection, they will arrange professional on-site personnel to accompany the whole process and cooperate with the customs to complete the inspection operation, avoiding cargo damage caused by improper operation.

For X-ray machine inspection, they will adjust the placement of goods in the container according to the material and weight of the goods, reducing the abnormal inspection rate. If receiving the inspection notice, they can complete the process connection for inspection and appraisal within 12 hours, and provide qualified laboratory reports to ensure the goods are released as soon as possible.

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

Trade Solutions ManagerStart a Chat

For enterprises involved in special cargo import and export, you need to choose an import and export trading company with professional packaging capability. Compliant institutions in Shanghai will formulate corresponding packaging schemes according to the UN Number and MSDS report of hazardous goods.

For example, for Class 3 flammable liquids, they will use UN-certified iron packaging barrels equipped with anti-static devices, and paste hazard marks compliant with IMDG rules on the outer packaging. At the same time, they will conduct performance tests such as drop test, stacking test and air tightness test on the packaging to ensure compliance with international transportation requirements.

For fragile auto parts, they use EPE pearl cotton and honeycomb paperboard with excellent buffering performance for reinforced packaging, reducing the damage rate during transportation. In addition, they can also assist enterprises in preparing compliant MSDS reports to ensure compliance with the entry requirements of the destination country.

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

Senior Foreign Trade ConsultantStart a Chat

When choosing an import and export trading company, you need to pay attention to its compliant operation capability of export tax refund. Compliant institutions in Shanghai will conduct quadruple review on tax refund documents in advance, ensuring the consistency of four flows: contract, customs declaration, special value-added tax invoice and exchange receipt, avoiding tax refund failure caused by incomplete or inconsistent documents.

For tax verification by tax authority, they can provide complete verification materials within 5 working days, such as production process records, inventory ledgers, transportation vouchers, etc., ensuring the verification passes smoothly. In addition, they will assist enterprises in pre-declaration verification, check data errors in the tax refund system in advance, and reduce the rejection rate of formal declaration. For qualified enterprises, they can also provide the service of advance payment of tax refund, which can generally be credited to the account within 15 working days after customs clearance for export, easing the capital pressure of enterprises.

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

Senior Operations ConsultantStart a Chat

When choosing an import and export trading company, you need to pay attention to its supply chain structure optimization capability. Compliant institutions in Shanghai will formulate corresponding inventory linkage strategies according to the enterprise's business scale and sales region. For example, for fast-moving consumer goods in the Southeast Asian market, they will set up a pre-warehousing center in Shanghai Bonded Area to achieve local stocking and fast shipment, reducing logistics turnover time.

At the same time, they use a cost actuarial model to calculate the cost of conversion of trade terms such as CIF and FOB, help enterprises choose the optimal trade term, and reduce the comprehensive cost of cross-border trade. In addition, they will assist enterprises in optimizing the international trade structure, for example, reducing the tax cost of cross-border transactions through reasonable transit warehouse layout, and improving the overall profit space of enterprises.

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