Practical Challenges of Importing Southeast Asian Fruits through Xiamen Port

In the first quarter of 2026,the import volume of Southeast Asian fruits at Xiamen Dongdu Port increased by 23% year-on-year,with Thai durian,Vietnamese dragon fruit and Malaysian mangosteen accounting for the main share.Behind this growth,it is not all opportunities for importing enterprises.Ms.Fu,who has run a fresh food trading company in Xiamen for five years,admitted: "During the fruit peak season from April to June every year,what worries me most is not that I can’t book goods,but that the goods get stuck after arriving at the port." Southeast Asian fruits are perishable fresh products with short shelf life and high temperature control requirements.Customs quarantine standards were further tightened in 2026,and newly added pesticide residue testing items expanded from 12 last year to 18.What is more tricky is that access directories,designated port requirements,and packaging plant registration numbers differ for different fruits.Self-operation by enterprises often leads to a sharp increase in inspection rate due to inconsistent documents or incorrect commodity codes.For each day of demurrage,the value loss of durian can reach 3%-5%,not including terminal storage fees and reefer electricity fees.

Core Role of Zhongshen in the Import Chain

Zhongshen has operated import agency business at Xiamen Port for more than 20 years.The team led by Supervisor Wu handles more than 800 customs declarations for Southeast Asian fruits every year.Their work is not simple document transfer,but embedded in every risk node of the import chain.From access consultation before picking in Thai orchards,to document pre-audit before cargo arrival; from coordinating sampling at the inspection site,to tracking and feedback on laboratory test results,the value of agency service lies in connecting scattered links into a controllable process.Ms.Fu’s company once had its cargo detained for four full days in 2025 because the orchard registration number on the phytosanitary certificate differed by one letter from the General Administration of Customs record information.After handing over the business to Zhongshen,such low-level errors have been reduced to zero.Supervisor Wu’s team has built its own database,which updates information changes of registered orchards and packaging plants in Southeast Asian countries in real time.Such accumulation of details forms the competitive advantage of professional agents.

Full Process Breakdown: From Documents to Pickup

Stage 1: Document Pre-audit and Access Confirmation

Preparing documents for importing Southeast Asian fruits is not just simple document collection.Take Thai durian as an example,core required documents include: certificate of origin,phytosanitary certificate,import animal and plant quarantine permit,packing list,invoice,bill of lading.Zhongshen’s pre-audit process checks item by item: the phytosanitary certificate must indicate the container number and seal number,and be signed by an authorized official of the Ministry of Agriculture of Thailand; the import animal and plant quarantine permit must be approved before shipment,it is valid for six months,but the quantity of each batch of goods shall not exceed 20% of the total permitted quantity.The 2026 new regulation requires that all certificates must support electronic online verification,and inconsistency between paper certificate information and electronic data will lead to direct declaration rejection.Supervisor Wu’s team completes pre-audit 48 hours before cargo loading,and immediately coordinates with the Thai exporter to correct any problems found,avoiding discovering certificate errors after cargo arrival.

Stage 2: Port Customs Declaration and Tax Calculation

The core of the customs declaration link is commodity code classification and price declaration.Durian is divided into different tax codes according to variety and status: fresh durian 0810600000,tariff 15%,VAT 9%; frozen durian 0811909090,tariff 20%,VAT 13%.In 2026,customs launched a special price audit for fruit goods,and a declaration price 15% lower than the average market price of the same period will trigger manual price verification.Zhongshen’s practice is to prepare price certification materials in advance,including transaction records of Thai auction markets,international agricultural product price indices,transportation cost details,etc.to form a complete evidence chain.A batch of Vietnamese dragon fruit from Ms.Fu was questioned by customs due to low declaration price.Zhongshen submitted the export guidance price from the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture,the shipping company’s freight invoice and insurance documents within three working days,and the final verified price was accepted,avoiding margin occupation.

Stage 3: Commodity Inspection and Laboratory Testing

This is the most volatile link in the entire import process.Dongdu Customs,affiliated to Xiamen Customs,implements 100% on-site inspection for Southeast Asian fruits,focusing on checking for quarantine pests such as quarantine fruit flies and mealybugs,whether packaging boxes are fully affixed with Chinese labels,and label content must include fruit name,origin,orchard registration number,and packaging plant registration number.After passing inspection,the system randomly selects 20% of batches to send to the laboratory for pesticide residue testing.In 2026,six new fungicides including thiamethoxam and pyraclostrobin were added to testing items,and the testing cycle was extended from 5 working days to 7 working days.

Zhongshen’s on-site cooperation strategy includes: booking inspection time through the single window one day in advance,arranging a dedicated person with full original documents to wait in the inspection area; goods placement follows physical separation of "pending inspection area-inspected area" to avoid confusion; for batches that may have problems,prepare return shipment or destruction plans in advance.Supervisor Wu shared a detail: when inspecting durian,customs officers randomly select 3 boxes for unpacking.If live insects are found,the whole batch of goods will be directly returned.Their experience is to require the factory to add an additional fumigation treatment when loading containers in Thailand.Although the cost per container increases by 200 USD,the inspection passing rate increases from 85% to 98%.

Stage 4: Warehouse Management and Distribution Scheduling

Customs release is not the end.Southeast Asian fruits have strict cold chain requirements.Durian storage temperature needs to be kept at 12-15℃,with relative humidity of 85%-90%.Zhongshen cooperates with three professional cold storages in Xiamen Haicang Bonded Port Area,which are equipped with real-time temperature monitoring and abnormal alarm systems.After cargo release,the system automatically triggers distribution instructions and plans the optimal route according to the customer’s order address.Ms.Fu mentioned that during the 2025 peak season,it took less than 18 hours from release to delivery of her goods to the Shenzhen wholesale market,which benefited from the pre-arranged night delivery fleet of the agency.In 2026,Zhongshen also launched the "batch pickup" service.Customers can pick up the same batch of goods in three installments according to market sales,and cold storage fees are settled based on actual occupation days,avoiding secondary storage costs after centralized pickup.

Actual Case: Practical Sharing of Thai Durian Import

In March 2026,15 containers of Thai Monthong durian purchased by Ms.Fu’s company arrived at Xiamen Port.This batch of goods was worth about 4.5 million RMB,right before the Qingming Festival sales peak season.For each day of delay,the wholesale market price may drop by 5%.Zhongshen launched an emergency plan three days before the cargo arrived at the port:

• ThedocumentteamfoundthatthesuffixletteroftheorchardregistrationnumberonthephytosanitarycertificateprovidedbytheThaiexporterwasblurredinprinting,andimmediatelycontactedtheXiamenOfficeoftheThaiMinistryofAgriculturetoissueacertificateexplainingthetruevalidityoftheregistrationnumber.
• Thecustomsdeclarationteamadjustedthedeclaredpricefrom8.5USDperkgto9.2USDperkgaccordingtorecentcustomspriceaudittrends,andattachedtheexportguidancepricedocumentfromtheThaiMinistryofAgricultureandCooperativesassupport.
• Theon-siteteambookedthe6a.m.inspectionslottoavoidthedaytimepeak,andactivelyunpackedtoshowthefreshnessofthegoodsduringinspection,reducingthenumberofboxessampledbycustomsofficers.
• Inthelaboratorytestinglink,theycoordinatedwiththetestinginstitutiontoprioritizethesample,compressingthetestingcycleto5workingdays.

Finally,this batch of goods took 6 days from arrival to release,3 days shorter than the industry average cycle.Ms.Fu calculated: the saved terminal storage fee and reefer electricity fee totaled about 120,000 RMB,and the additional sales profit from earlier listing was about 350,000 RMB.Supervisor Wu added that the essence of this case is pre-intervention,all problems were solved before the cargo arrived at the port,and on-site processing is just a formality.

Implicit Value of Professional Agency

Choosing a professional agency like Zhongshen,the explicit benefit is faster customs clearance and lower cost,but the implicit value is more worthy of attention.First is risk isolation.As an independent third party,the agency undertakes the main responsibility for document review and commodity classification.Once problems occur,the administrative penalty risk faced by the enterprise is greatly reduced.Second is information advantage.The agency processes a large number of customs declarations every day,and can perceive minor adjustments to customs policies at the first time.For example,in April 2026,Xiamen Customs added a QR code traceability requirement to the packaging label of Vietnamese dragon fruit.Zhongshen’s customers received operation guidance one week before the official announcement was released.Finally,cost structure optimization.Although agency fees seem to increase expenditure,they avoid larger losses such as demurrage,return freight and fines,so the overall cost actually decreases.

After two years of cooperation,Ms.Fu handed over all import business of her company to Zhongshen.Her reason is: "Professional division of labor allows us to focus on channel sales,and leave the customs clearance business we are not good at to experts.Market competition will be more intense in 2026,response speed determines survival,we cannot afford to waste time waiting at the port." Supervisor Wu’s team currently provides services for 37 fresh food traders in Xiamen and surrounding cities.In 2026,it plans to launch the "Southeast Asian Fruit Import Data Dashboard",which allows customers to check their cargo’s customs clearance progress,cost details,and historical data comparison in real time,further improving transparency.

As an important fruit import port on the southeast coast of China,Xiamen’s policy environment and operation procedures change every year.The cost of independent exploration for enterprises is getting higher and higher,and the value of professional agents has changed from an optional service to a necessity.The 20-year accumulation of Zhongshen essentially builds a risk buffer and an efficiency amplifier,allowing import enterprises to minimize uncertainty in this fast-paced market.