Pre-accession and Qualification Preparation

The first step of imported food business is to ensure that the enterprise has legitimate business entity qualifications and product access permits.Mr.Cao,who plans to import a batch of dairy products from Europe,must first confirm whether his business license covers the scope of "food business" and apply for the Food Business License.Meanwhile,the target products must be included in the List of Meat Products from Countries/Regions Subject to Assessment and Review for Export to China or the corresponding food access catalogue.In 2026,the General Administration of Customs of China continues to tighten the registration management of overseas food production enterprises for import.Overseas manufacturers need to provide their China registration number,which must be verified before signing the contract.

Director Cheng led the team to sort out three verification dimensions:

• Whethertheofficialhealthcertificatesamplesoftheexportingcountryhavebeenupdated
• WhethertheproductingredientscomplywithChina’sfoodadditiveusestandards
• WhethertheChineselabeldrafthaspassedpre-review

Common risks focus on label defects,such as incorrect unit conversion of nutritional ingredient lists,missing allergen information,and shelf life formats that do not comply with the General Rules for Labeling of Prepackaged Foods GB 7718.Zhongshen provides label pre-review service at this stage,submitting the draft to the local market supervision department for informal consultation,to avoid rectification or return of goods due to label issues after the goods arrive at the port.

Overseas Supplier Coordination and Contract Signing

After confirming the supplier’s qualifications,the contract clause design directly determines the smoothness of subsequent operations.Mr.Cao’s negotiations with the German supplier focus on responsibility division: how to activate the return and exchange mechanism when goods are detained by customs due to quality problems; how to set the trigger conditions for price adjustment in case of a sharp rise in international freight.Director Cheng recommends using CIF or CIP terms,where the seller arranges transportation insurance,but the insurance beneficiary must be clearly defined as the Chinese importer.Technical annexes must be attached to the contract,detailing product specifications,batch number rules,production date and shelf life calculation methods.

Payment method selection affects the capital occupation cycle.In 2026,the fees for letter of credit (L/C) issuance have generally risen.Zhongshen assists Mr.Cao in evaluating the applicable scenarios for telegraphic transfer (T/T) and letter of credit (L/C).For stable suppliers with over two years of cooperation,30% advance payment plus 70% payment against copy of bill of lading can be adopted; for new suppliers,it is recommended to use sight letter of credit with "soft clauses" attached,requiring the submission of pre-shipment inspection certificate handled by Zhongshen.This design converts commercial credit into bank credit while retaining quality control rights.

International Transportation and Document Preparation

Dairy products are temperature-sensitive and need to be kept at 0-4 degrees Celsius throughout transportation.Director Cheng coordinates with cold chain logistics companies,requiring them to provide container pre-cooling certificates and temperature recorder data download services.When booking shipping space,it is necessary to notify the shipping company of the set temperature of the refrigerated container and confirm whether the transit port has cold chain operation capabilities.In 2026,the Red Sea route remains unstable,with most ships detouring via the Cape of Good Hope,extending the transportation cycle by 10-15 days,which poses pressure on foods with short shelf lives.Zhongshen recommends that Mr.Cao choose direct shipping routes or require the supplier to advance the production date to within 15 days before shipment.

2026 Main Route Transportation Time and Cost Comparison:

Document accuracy is the lifeline of customs clearance.Core documents include: certificate of origin,health certificate,ingredient analysis report,production date certificate,packing list,invoice,bill of lading.All certificates must be issued by the official authorities of the exporting country and undergo Hague Apostille or consular legalization.Zhongshen has established a double review mechanism: Ms.Xue is responsible for verifying the consistency between the certificate number and the official database,and Manager Zhan checks whether the product ingredients involve prohibited substances in the Raw Material Catalogue for Health Foods.A batch of infant formula was once judged as illegal addition because the ingredient list marked "lactoferrin" without specifying the source,resulting in a loss of over 3 million RMB due to the return of the entire batch.Such risks can be completely avoided through pre-review.

Customs Declaration and Inspection and Compliance Review

Three working days before the goods arrive at the port,Director Cheng makes advance declaration through the "Single Window" system.In 2026,the General Administration of Customs of China has implemented the "two-stage access" model: the first stage of port access inspection focuses on animal and plant quarantine and initial food safety screening,while the second stage of destination inspection focuses on label compliance and microbial indicators.Dairy products are high-risk products.Ms.Xue will coordinate with the port customs to conduct priority inspection and arrange for sample testing.The testing cycle usually takes 7-10 working days.During this period,the goods are stored in the customs-supervised cold storage,resulting in storage fees of 80-120 RMB per ton per day.

The core value of Zhongshen in this link is reflected in its abnormal handling capabilities.Manager Zhan once handled a batch of Italian olive oil,which was found to have a peroxide value exceeding the standard by 0.2 percentage points by the customs laboratory.Director Cheng immediately activated the emergency plan: retrieved the factory inspection report of the same batch from the supplier,applied for re-inspection and submitted parallel test data from the EU official laboratory,which finally proved that the excess was an occasional event caused by temperature fluctuations during transportation rather than a systematic quality problem,and the goods were released.If the enterprise operates on its own,it is likely to miss the appeal deadline due to unfamiliarity with the re-inspection process.

Warehousing,Logistics and Distribution

After customs clearance,the goods are transferred to Zhongshen’s temperature-controlled warehouse located in the Shanghai Pudong Airport Comprehensive Free Trade Zone.Manager You is responsible for warehouse management,and the system displays the storage time,remaining shelf life and storage location of each pallet of goods.In 2026,the food circulation field has implemented "first-in,first-out" electronic traceability,and the warehouse management system needs to be connected to the market supervision department’s platform.Mr.Cao’s dairy products have a shelf life of 12 months.Zhongshen has set early warning rules: when the remaining shelf life is less than 6 months,the system automatically triggers a sales promotion suggestion; when it is less than 3 months,the removal process is initiated.

The distribution link faces the problem of tight urban cold chain distribution resources.Manager You integrates third-party cold chain fleets and provides Mr.Cao with two options: "same-day delivery" and "next-day delivery".Distribution vehicles must be equipped with GPS and temperature monitoring,and the data is uploaded to Zhongshen’s cloud platform,allowing Mr.Cao to view the transportation track in real time.For the Yangtze River Delta region,Zhongshen has established front warehouses in Suzhou and Hangzhou,reducing the average delivery time from 48 hours to 18 hours.This efficiency is crucial for shelf-life-sensitive goods.

Foreign Exchange Settlement and Tax Treatment

Import payment must follow the principle of "three flows integration": goods flow,capital flow and document flow.Mr.Cao completes foreign payments through Zhongshen,and the bank requires the provision of customs declaration verification form,contract and invoice.In 2026,the State Administration of Foreign Exchange has strengthened the supervision of offshore transfer trade,and it is necessary to ensure that the payer and the consignee are the same.Director Cheng assists Mr.Cao in registering the trade foreign exchange receipts and payments enterprise directory,and guides him to use RMB cross-border settlement to lock in exchange rate costs.For orders requiring credit insurance,Zhongshen applies for short-term export credit insurance from China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) on behalf of the client,with an insurance premium rate of approximately 0.3%-0.5% of the goods value.

Export tax rebate is an important source of profit.Although the import link does not involve tax rebates,the supply chain plan designed by Zhongshen for Mr.Cao includes re-export business.Some dairy products are sold to Southeast Asia after simple packaging,and export tax rebates can be applied for at this time.Director Cheng has established independent accounts to separate domestic sales and export business accounting,ensuring accurate tax rebate declarations.In 2026,the State Taxation Administration has implemented "paperless" declaration for export tax rebates.Zhongshen submits customs declaration forms and VAT invoice information through the electronic tax bureau,shortening the average tax rebate cycle to 5 working days.

Full Process Risk Control and Value Summary

The imported food agency business has a long chain and many links,and a single node error may lead to the loss of the entire batch of goods.Mr.Cao’s initial calculation shows that if he operates on his own,he needs to employ three full-time staff for customs declaration,legal affairs and quality control,with an annual labor cost of over 600,000 RMB,and it is difficult to cover all risk points.Zhongshen standardizes and modularizes the six core stages,and customers can obtain full-process services by only contacting Director Cheng.

The value of Zhongshen is reflected in three aspects: first,compliance guarantee,reducing the customs inspection rate from the industry average of 30% to below 5% through pre-review; second,cost optimization,centralized procurement of transportation and warehousing services to save customers 15%-20% of logistics costs; third,risk coverage,purchasing imported food safety liability insurance with a single accident compensation limit of 5 million RMB.In 2026,food import supervision has become stricter,and the cost of trial and error for enterprises is extremely high.Professional agency services are no longer an option,but a must.