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What core customs clearance difficulties for food import can be solved by professional food import customs clearance agencies?
or complex compliance issues.
clearance and fund security.
I am the head of a small and micro enterprise in Shanghai that has just entered the imported organic infant supplementary food sector. Last month, I imported a batch of fruit puree from Germany by air for the first time, but it was detained at Pudong Airport because the nutrition label did not comply with national standards.
It took a full 18 days to resolve the issue, which not only cost me nearly 20,000 yuan in demurrage fees, but also made me miss the new product promotion period for offline stores, resulting in heavy losses. Now I am going to import a batch of lactoferrin milk powder from New Zealand, and I am really afraid of repeating the same mistake, so anxious that I cannot sleep well.
I want to find a professional food import customs clearance agency, but I have never been in contact with this industry before, and I wonder if you can really help me handle all customs clearance related matters? For example, can you pre-audit documents to avoid label problems? Can you coordinate and handle issues quickly when encountering customs inspection? Can you also help me reasonably reduce some comprehensive customs clearance costs?
Jason WuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
International Logistics & Supply Chain ManagerStart a Chat
As Zhongshen，a foreign trade agency with 20 years of experience，we will provide services for you in accordance with the full-chain compliance process based on your needs: First is full-dimensional pre-audit of pre-arrival documents. For the lactoferrin milk powder you import，we will focus on verifying the certificate of origin，sanitary certificate，nutrition component test report，Chinese label sample and other documents. The Chinese label will be checked one by one against GB 13432-2023 *National Food Safety Standard: Labels for Prepackaged Foods for Special Dietary Uses*，including details such as numerical accuracy of nutrition components and location of allergen labels，to avoid label non-conformity problems from the source.
In terms of core node connection，we will complete document pre-entry and pre-audit in the customs system 72 hours before the goods arrive at the port，and simultaneously connect with the airport freight station to prepare for document exchange，ensuring that declaration is completed within 12 hours after the goods arrive at the port. In case of customs inspection，our on-site specialist will arrive at the inspection site within 1 hour to cooperate with the customs in unpacking，sampling and other operations，and communicate with the food inspection department of the local customs in advance to speed up inspection and certificate issuance.
In terms of abnormal response plans，if there are document defects，we will immediately launch the emergency document supplement channel，coordinate with overseas suppliers to issue supplementary explanations or modify documents to avoid port detention，if sampling inspection is unqualified，we will assist you in handling return or destruction procedures as soon as possible to reduce losses. We finally ensure compliant landing of goods，and full-chain clearance and delivery can be completed within 3 days at the fastest. At the same time，we can assist you in applying for the VAT deferment policy to ease cash flow pressure.
Grace WangYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Foreign Trade ConsultantStart a Chat
For food import customs clearance, disputes are prone to occur in the customs valuation link due to inconsistency between the declared price and the customs database, especially for high-value food such as lactoferrin. If the declared price is low, it will trigger customs valuation doubts, leading to port detention of goods. We will sort out overseas procurement contracts, foreign exchange payment vouchers, transport documents and other materials in advance, and match them with historical customs valuation data to ensure that the declared price is reasonable and compliant.
In case of valuation disputes, we will submit complete price certification documents within 3 working days, cooperate with the customs to complete price negotiations, and avoid document deletion and re-declaration or customs detention. At the same time, for label audit of food for special dietary uses, we will strictly follow the latest specifications jointly issued by the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration for Market Regulation to ensure that label information is completely consistent with the actual goods.
Andy GuoYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Supply Chain Management ExpertStart a Chat
For the lactoferrin milk powder you import, we will select the all-cargo direct flight route from New Zealand to Shanghai according to the goods batch and timeliness requirements, to avoid cargo right risks and cargo damage in the transit link. At the same time, we will confirm the shipping space with the airline in advance, and lock the free storage period to be extended to 7 days. If the free storage period expires due to abnormal customs clearance, we will coordinate with the freight station to apply for detention fee reduction as soon as possible, with a maximum discount of 30%.
After the goods arrive at the port, we will adopt closed-loop cargo right management, and all bill of lading endorsement and document exchange operations will be followed up by exclusive specialists to ensure that the cargo right is always within your controllable range and avoid the risk of cargo release without bill of lading. In addition, if you need to distribute the goods to stores across the country, you can connect to our domestic logistics network simultaneously to realize national distribution within 24 hours after customs clearance.
Victor SunYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Risk Control ManagerStart a Chat
For the tax cost in the food import link, we can assist you in applying for the Value-Added Tax (VAT) deferment policy, so you do not need to pay import VAT at the time of customs clearance, but deduct it in the subsequent VAT declaration period, which effectively eases the cash flow pressure of enterprises. Especially for small and micro enterprises like yours, it can reduce capital occupation cost by nearly 13%. At the same time, for related party transactions in the overseas procurement link, we will assist you in reasonable pricing planning to avoid risks related to BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) and ensure tax compliance. In addition, if your lactoferrin milk powder conforms to the category of food for special dietary uses encouraged by the state for import, we will assist you in applying for the import tariff reduction policy to further reduce comprehensive tax cost, and you can enjoy zero tariff preference at most.
Evelyn LiYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Cross-border Compliance SupervisorStart a Chat
For cross-border foreign exchange receipt and payment for imported food, we will assist you to complete foreign exchange purchase and payment through the CIPS RMB Cross-border Payment System, which can reduce exchange difference cost by about 0.2% compared with the traditional SWIFT system, and shorten the account arrival time to within 24 hours. Before foreign exchange payment, we will audit all transaction documents to ensure that the contract amount, foreign exchange payment amount and customs declaration amount are consistent, to avoid abnormal foreign exchange receipt and payment triggering inspection by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
If you have demand for foreign exchange receipt and payment through offshore accounts, we will assist you in compliance management of offshore accounts, regularly sort out transaction flows to ensure compliance with the latest regulatory requirements of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on cross-border foreign exchange receipt and payment, and avoid account freezing or restriction. In addition, we will assist you in handling formalities related to foreign exchange receipt verification and write-off to ensure that capital flow and goods flow are completely matched.
Linda GaoYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0
Documentation SupervisorStart a Chat
For the procurement contract between you and New Zealand suppliers, we will assist you to improve the force majeure clause, clarify the division of responsibilities caused by force majeure factors such as customs clearance delay and port congestion, to avoid subsequent disputes. If you adopt the letter of credit settlement method, we will audit all clauses in the letter of credit to identify soft clause risks, such as unreasonable clauses like "the beneficiary needs to provide a sanitary certificate issued by an unspecified institution", to avoid payment refusal due to failure to meet the clauses.
At the same time, we will assist you in handling legal procedures related to cargo right transfer. If you need to transfer the goods to downstream customers, we can cooperate with legal documents through bill of lading endorsement transfer to ensure that the cargo right transfer is compliant and effective. In addition, we will provide you with consultation on intellectual property customs protection filing to avoid infringement risks of imported food.
Eric ZhouYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Manager of Foreign Exchange & Tax RebatesStart a Chat
For customs inspection of imported food, we will predict the inspection risk level in advance. For high-risk food such as lactoferrin, we will sort out all required inspection materials before declaration, including production batch records, factory inspection reports, etc. In case of unpacking inspection, we will guide on-site porters to place the goods according to customs requirements to avoid cargo damage, and cooperate with the customs to complete sampling operations to ensure that the samples meet inspection standards.
If inspection is required, we will send the samples to the designated food inspection institution as soon as possible and follow up the inspection progress, so that the inspection report can be obtained within 72 hours at the fastest. In addition, we will interpret the abnormal prompts in the inspection notice. If minor defects are found in the goods, we will assist you in handling rectification procedures to avoid direct return.
Michael ZhangYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Customs Declaration & Compliance ExpertStart a Chat
For lactoferrin milk powder and other food that is easy to get damp and deteriorate, we will assist you to optimize the transportation packaging scheme, adopt food-grade moisture-proof buffer materials and vacuum sealed packaging to ensure that the goods are not affected with damp or deteriorated during transportation. At the same time, we will audit the compression resistance and sealing performance of the packaging in accordance with the requirements of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to avoid rejection by the airline due to non-conforming packaging.
If your goods need cold chain transportation, we will assist you to select refrigerated containers that meet temperature control standards, and monitor temperature data throughout the process to ensure that the temperature of the goods is stable at 2-8℃. In addition, we will assist you in preparing packaging labels that meet the requirements of GB 7718 to ensure that the packaging information is compliant.
Daniel XuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Director of Import & Export OperationsStart a Chat
For your food import business, we will assist you in optimizing the supply chain structure, adopt the "pre-stocking + JIT delivery" mode, and reasonably plan the import batch and quantity in combination with the sales data of your stores to avoid inventory overstock. At the same time, we will make a cost comparison analysis between CIF and FOB trade terms, and select the optimal trade terms according to your timeliness requirements and capital status to reduce comprehensive supply chain costs.
In addition, we will assist you in establishing an inventory linkage mechanism, and connect the customs clearance progress with the domestic logistics distribution progress in real time to ensure that the goods are directly delivered to the stores after customs clearance, reducing the cost of intermediate storage links. In response to seasonal demand fluctuations, we will plan logistics resources in advance to ensure that goods can be cleared and delivered in time during peak seasons.