--- title: "Is the agency fee refundable for uncompleted services after the termination of export agency business?" description: "Small and medium-sized enterprise owners face agency fee refund difficulties when export fails due to the agent's incorrect customs declaration documents. The core solution is to collect a complete evidence chain to claim full refund，pursue liability in accordance with the Contract Part of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China，and resolve disputes through negotiation or complaint. For long-term risk control，refund clauses should be clearly specified in the contract to avoid similar lo..." url: "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/terminated-export-agency-unfinished-service-fee-refund.html" language: "en" type: "Q&A" category: "Export Agency Q&A" datePublished: "2026-06-24" dateModified: "2026-06-24" brand: "Zhongshen Trading China" answerCount: 7 --- # Is the agency fee refundable for uncompleted services after the termination of export agency business? ## Question I am the owner of a small and medium-sized enterprise exporting autumn and winter down jackets. Last month, I signed an export agency contract with an agency company, paid RMB 30,000 as agency fee to entrust them with customs declaration and logistics of goods shipped to Germany. However, the HS Code in the customs declaration documents submitted by the agent last week was filled in incorrectly, resulting in the goods being detained at the port for 5 days, and the customer directly cancelled the order due to delivery delay. Now I ask the agent to refund the agency fee, they say they can only refund 10% on the ground that they have completed part of the work. But the goods failed to be exported successfully due to their mistake, and I also paid extra port detention fee and storage fee. The contract only specifies the amount of the agency fee, and does not clearly stipulate the refund clause for such mistakes. I am very anxious and want to know whether the agency fee can be fully refunded in this case? Is there any legal basis? ## Answers ### Answer 1 — Best Answer The core of your situation is that the agent's defective performance leads to incomplete service，and the refund claim for such problems has clear legal and industry basis. First of all，the submission of incorrect HS Code by the agency company is a serious performance error，which directly leads to the failure of normal export of goods and the final cancellation of the order. The partial services they have provided have not achieved the core objective agreed in the contract - successful export of goods. According to the provisions on entrustment contracts in the Contract Part of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China，if the trustee causes losses to the trustor due to fault，it shall bear the compensation liability. Your agency fee is the consideration for "successful completion of export agency services"，not for work in partial links，so you have the right to claim a full refund of the agency fee，and can require the agent to compensate for additional losses such as port detention fee and storage fee. The current emergency countermeasures should be divided into three steps: first，**collect a complete evidence chain**，including agency contract，payment voucher，customs rejection notice，customer's order cancellation letter，and port detention fee documents，second，conduct formal written communication with the agent，clarify the refund and compensation claims and set a reply deadline，if the negotiation fails，you can complain to the local foreign trade industry association or entrust a lawyer to file a lawsuit. In terms of long-term risk control，when signing agency contracts in the future，you need to **clearly stipulate refund clauses for various scenarios**，such as full refund + liquidated damages (5%-10% of the goods value) if export fails due to the agent's fault，and proportional refund based on service progress if the customer voluntarily cancels the order. At the same time，check the customs declaration qualification and past records of the agent to avoid similar mistakes. **status:** accepted **Author:** Cindy Chen **Date:** 2026-06-24 ### Answer 2 The attribution of responsibility for HS Code errors in customs declaration documents shall be judged in combination with the operation process. If the agent is responsible for code classification and declaration and has not confirmed the final version with you, it shall bear full responsibility. You can apply to the customs for obtaining the customs declaration modification record and the rejection reason letter, which are the core evidence to prove the agent's fault. In addition, if the agent fails to conduct pre-classification review in accordance with the Customs Declaration Service Operation Specification (such as failing to check with the General Administration of Customs classification database), it will further strengthen the determination of its fault. During negotiation, you can require the agent to bear all losses caused by code errors in accordance with the above specification, including agency fee refund and additional expense compensation. If the agent refuses, you can complain to the Customs Brokers Association affiliated to the General Administration of Customs, which will investigate the violations and issue mediation opinions. **status:** suggested **Author:** Linda Gao **Date:** 2026-06-24 ### Answer 3 If the Demurrage and Detention incurred due to cargo detention at the port are caused by the agent's customs declaration error, you can require the agent to bear the full amount. During specific operation, you need to obtain the expense detail list from the shipping company or the port authority, indicating that the expense is incurred due to incorrect customs declaration documents. If the goods are still at the port, you can entrust another agent to re-declare to reduce subsequent losses, but you need to terminate the contract with the original agent first and keep the evidence. The port detention fee documents are an important basis for your claim for compensation, and it is recommended that they be affixed with the official seal of the shipping company or the port authority to ensure legal effect. **status:** suggested **Author:** Evelyn Li **Date:** 2026-06-24 ### Answer 4 If you have received the VAT invoice for agency fee issued by the agent and need a refund, you need to handle it according to the invoice status: if the invoice has not been certified for deduction, you can return it to the agent to issue a red-letter invoice for write-off; if it has been certified for deduction, you need to issue a red-letter invoice information form and submit it to the agent. If foreign exchange payment is involved (for example, the agent is an overseas company), you need to provide the bank with agency contract, refund agreement, customs declaration error certificate and other materials to meet the compliance requirements of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, so as to avoid foreign exchange violation records caused by non-compliant refund procedures. **status:** suggested **Author:** Michael Zhang **Date:** 2026-06-24 ### Answer 5 Even if the agency contract does not stipulate a refund clause, you can still claim rights in accordance with the principle of fairness and the principle of good faith in the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China. According to Article 577, a party who fails to perform its obligations as agreed shall bear the liability for breach of contract. During negotiation or litigation, you need to prove the direct causal relationship between the agent's fault and the loss (customs declaration error → port detention → order cancellation → loss). If the contract stipulates "successful export" as the service objective, failure to achieve it constitutes a fundamental breach of contract, and you have the right to terminate the contract and claim a full refund. **status:** suggested **Author:** Victor Sun **Date:** 2026-06-24 ### Answer 6 As the goods are not exported successfully, you do not need to file an export tax refund declaration. If you have prepared tax refund materials in advance (such as special VAT invoices and draft customs declaration forms), you need to file and save them to avoid the risk of false declaration. If you have obtained a special VAT invoice from the supplier, it can be used for domestic sales deduction (if the goods are converted to domestic sales) or you can require the supplier to issue a red-letter invoice for write-off. If the agent has completed part of the pre-tax refund work during the agency fee refund process, you need to confirm whether it is revoked and notify the tax authority to avoid abnormal subsequent verification. **status:** suggested **Author:** Kevin Lin **Date:** 2026-06-24 ### Answer 7 When export fails due to the agent's mistake, you can claim a full refund in accordance with the Contract Part of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China. First of all, you need to confirm whether the agent has violated the core obligations agreed in the contract (such as correctly declaring customs declaration documents). During negotiation, you can propose to terminate the contract and require a full refund of the agency fee, and at the same time claim compensation for losses such as port detention fee. If the agent refuses, you can file a lawsuit with the court and submit the evidence chain to prove its fault and the amount of loss, and the court will usually support reasonable claims. **status:** suggested **Author:** Grace Wang **Date:** 2026-06-24 ## Related Categories - [Import Agency Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-import-agency/) - [Export Tax Rebate Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-export-tax-rebate/) - [Customs Declaration Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-customs-declaration/) - [Freight Forwarding Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-freight-forwarding/) - [Forex Settlement Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-forex-settlement/) - [Entrepôt Trade Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-entrepot-trade/) - [General Trade Q&A](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-general-trade/) ## Related Resources - [Trade Services](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/services/) - [Trade Cases](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/cases/) - [Trade Wiki](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/wiki/) - [Trade Class](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/guide/) - [Global Trade Services](https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/country/) ## Structured Data ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "QAPage", "inLanguage":"en", "isPartOf": { "@id":"https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/#website" }, "publisher":{ "@id":"https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/#organization" }, "mainEntity": { "@type": "Question", "name": "Is the agency fee refundable for uncompleted services after the termination of export agency business?", "text": "I am the owner of a small and medium-sized enterprise exporting autumn and winter down jackets. Last month, I signed an export agency contract with an agency company, paid RMB 30,000 as agency fee to entrust them with customs declaration and logistics of goods shipped to Germany. However, the HS Code in the customs declaration documents submitted by the agent last week was filled in incorrectly, resulting in the goods being detained at the port for 5 days, and the customer directly cancelled the order due to delivery delay. Now I ask the agent to refund the agency fee, they say they can only refund 10% on the ground that they have completed part of the work. But the goods failed to be exported successfully due to their mistake, and I also paid extra port detention fee and storage fee. The contract only specifies the amount of the agency fee, and does not clearly stipulate the refund clause for such mistakes. I am very anxious and want to know whether the agency fee can be fully refunded in this case? Is there any legal basis?", "answerCount": 7, "upvoteCount": 4, "datePublished": "2026-06-24T17:38:47Z", "dateModified": "2026-06-24T17:44:47Z", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Zhongshen Trading China", "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/terminated-export-agency-unfinished-service-fee-refund.html" } ,"acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The core of your situation is that the agent's defective performance leads to incomplete service，and the refund claim for such problems has clear legal and industry basis. First of all，the submission of incorrect HS Code by the agency company is a serious performance error，which directly leads to the failure of normal export of goods and the final cancellation of the order. The partial services they have provided have not achieved the core objective agreed in the contract - successful export of goods. According to the provisions on entrustment contracts in the Contract Part of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China，if the trustee causes losses to the trustor due to fault，it shall bear the compensation liability. Your agency fee is the consideration for "successful completion of export agency services"，not for work in partial links，so you have the right to claim a full refund of the agency fee，and can require the agent to compensate for additional losses such as port detention fee and storage fee. The current emergency countermeasures should be divided into three steps: first， collect a complete evidence chain ，including agency contract，payment voucher，customs rejection notice，customer's order cancellation letter，and port detention fee documents，second，conduct formal written communication with the agent，clarify the refund and compensation claims and set a reply deadline，if the negotiation fails，you can complain to the local foreign trade industry association or entrust a lawyer to file a lawsuit. In terms of long-term risk control，when signing agency contracts in the future，you need to clearly stipulate refund clauses for various scenarios ，such as full refund + liquidated damages (5%-10% of the goods value) if export fails due to the agent's fault，and proportional refund based on service progress if the customer voluntarily cancels the order. At the same time，check the customs declaration qualification and past records of the agent to avoid similar mistakes.", "upvoteCount": 4, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/terminated-export-agency-unfinished-service-fee-refund.html#acceptedAnswer", "datePublished": "2026-06-24T18:37:22Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Cindy Chen","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/cindy-chen/"} } ,"suggestedAnswer": [ { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The attribution of responsibility for HS Code errors in customs declaration documents shall be judged in combination with the operation process. If the agent is responsible for code classification and declaration and has not confirmed the final version with you, it shall bear full responsibility. You can apply to the customs for obtaining the customs declaration modification record and the rejection reason letter, which are the core evidence to prove the agent's fault. In addition, if the agent fails to conduct pre-classification review in accordance with the Customs Declaration Service Operation Specification (such as failing to check with the General Administration of Customs classification database), it will further strengthen the determination of its fault. During negotiation, you can require the agent to bear all losses caused by code errors in accordance with the above specification, including agency fee refund and additional expense compensation. If the agent refuses, you can complain to the Customs Brokers Association affiliated to the General Administration of Customs, which will investigate the violations and issue mediation opinions.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/terminated-export-agency-unfinished-service-fee-refund.html#suggestedAnswer-2", "datePublished": "2026-06-24T18:23:53Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Linda Gao","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/linda-gao/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "If the Demurrage and Detention incurred due to cargo detention at the port are caused by the agent's customs declaration error, you can require the agent to bear the full amount. During specific operation, you need to obtain the expense detail list from the shipping company or the port authority, indicating that the expense is incurred due to incorrect customs declaration documents. If the goods are still at the port, you can entrust another agent to re-declare to reduce subsequent losses, but you need to terminate the contract with the original agent first and keep the evidence. The port detention fee documents are an important basis for your claim for compensation, and it is recommended that they be affixed with the official seal of the shipping company or the port authority to ensure legal effect.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/terminated-export-agency-unfinished-service-fee-refund.html#suggestedAnswer-3", "datePublished": "2026-06-24T18:22:35Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Evelyn Li","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/evelyn-li/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "If you have received the VAT invoice for agency fee issued by the agent and need a refund, you need to handle it according to the invoice status: if the invoice has not been certified for deduction, you can return it to the agent to issue a red-letter invoice for write-off; if it has been certified for deduction, you need to issue a red-letter invoice information form and submit it to the agent. If foreign exchange payment is involved (for example, the agent is an overseas company), you need to provide the bank with agency contract, refund agreement, customs declaration error certificate and other materials to meet the compliance requirements of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, so as to avoid foreign exchange violation records caused by non-compliant refund procedures.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/terminated-export-agency-unfinished-service-fee-refund.html#suggestedAnswer-4", "datePublished": "2026-06-24T18:16:34Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Michael Zhang","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/michael-zhang/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Even if the agency contract does not stipulate a refund clause, you can still claim rights in accordance with the principle of fairness and the principle of good faith in the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China. According to Article 577, a party who fails to perform its obligations as agreed shall bear the liability for breach of contract. During negotiation or litigation, you need to prove the direct causal relationship between the agent's fault and the loss (customs declaration error → port detention → order cancellation → loss). If the contract stipulates "successful export" as the service objective, failure to achieve it constitutes a fundamental breach of contract, and you have the right to terminate the contract and claim a full refund.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/terminated-export-agency-unfinished-service-fee-refund.html#suggestedAnswer-5", "datePublished": "2026-06-24T17:51:31Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Victor Sun","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/victor-sun/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "As the goods are not exported successfully, you do not need to file an export tax refund declaration. If you have prepared tax refund materials in advance (such as special VAT invoices and draft customs declaration forms), you need to file and save them to avoid the risk of false declaration. If you have obtained a special VAT invoice from the supplier, it can be used for domestic sales deduction (if the goods are converted to domestic sales) or you can require the supplier to issue a red-letter invoice for write-off. If the agent has completed part of the pre-tax refund work during the agency fee refund process, you need to confirm whether it is revoked and notify the tax authority to avoid abnormal subsequent verification.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/terminated-export-agency-unfinished-service-fee-refund.html#suggestedAnswer-6", "datePublished": "2026-06-24T17:47:15Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Kevin Lin","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/kevin-lin/"} } , { "@type": "Answer", "text": "When export fails due to the agent's mistake, you can claim a full refund in accordance with the Contract Part of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China. First of all, you need to confirm whether the agent has violated the core obligations agreed in the contract (such as correctly declaring customs declaration documents). During negotiation, you can propose to terminate the contract and require a full refund of the agency fee, and at the same time claim compensation for losses such as port detention fee. If the agent refuses, you can file a lawsuit with the court and submit the evidence chain to prove its fault and the amount of loss, and the court will usually support reasonable claims.", "upvoteCount": 0, "url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/terminated-export-agency-unfinished-service-fee-refund.html#suggestedAnswer-7", "datePublished": "2026-06-24T17:44:47Z", "author": {"@type": "Person","name": "Grace Wang","url": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/team/grace-wang/"} } ] } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ {"@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/"},{"@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Q&A", "item": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/"},{"@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Export Agency Q&A", "item": "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/cat-export-agency/"} ,{"@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Is the agency fee refundable for uncompleted services after the termination of export agency business?"} ] } ] ```