In the first quarter of 2026,the value of imported food at Shanghai Port increased by 17.3% year-on-year,with the most significant growth seen in Southeast Asian tropical fruits,European dairy products,and South American aquatic products.Behind this growth are the常態(tài)化 challenges faced by import enterprises: the Measures for the Administration of Food Safety of Import and Export,revised by the General Administration of Customs at the end of 2025,has added mandatory labeling requirements for genetically modified ingredients,and the sampling rate of pre-packaged food Chinese labels by Shanghai market supervision departments has increased to 15%.Cases of cargo detention due to inconsistent documents or label issues after arrival at the port account for 38% of abnormal customs inspection cases for food.

Zhongshen has handled more than 2,000 imported food projects in this field.Last year,Mr.Ma imported a batch of coconut water from Thailand.Three days before the cargo arrived at Yangshan Port,our team reviewed and found that the labeling of vitamin C in its nutrition facts table did not comply with the revised provisions of GB 28050 that took effect in 2026.This pre-examination mechanism allowed Mr.Ma to avoid at least two weeks of port detention fees and potential return losses.This exactly illustrates the core value of professional agency services: shifting compliance review from passive response to active prevention and control.

Document Pre-examination: The First Line of Defense for Food Import Compliance

The document system for imported food is more than three times more complex than that of ordinary goods.In addition to basic trade documents,certificate of origin,official sanitary certificate,manufacturer’s ingredient statement,label samples and their translations are also required.Starting from 2026,all foods containing allergen ingredients must provide complete allergen traceability reports.Zhongshen’s pre-examination team will check page by page whether the production batch number,production date on the sanitary certificate are completely consistent with the packing list.This detail directly determines whether the cargo can be released during customs inspection.

Technical Key Points of Label Review

Chinese labels of pre-packaged foods are the key inspection areas.In 2026,the label review standards at Shanghai Port have been refined to require that the font height is no less than 1.8mm,the nutrition facts table must adopt the "box table" format,and allergen substances need to be separately and prominently marked.When Mr.Ma imported olive oil from Italy,the original label used "Extra Virgin" as part of the brand name,which is a misleading description under Chinese regulations.During the pre-examination stage,we suggested adjusting the label design to clearly distinguish the product name from the brand name,and finally passed the label filing by the market supervision department smoothly.

• Checkwhethertheorderoftheingredientlistisconsistentwiththedescendingorderofactualadditionamount
• VerifywhetherthecommonnamesoffoodadditivescomplywiththelatestversionofGB2760
• Confirmwhethertheregisteredaddressesofimportersanddistributorsareconsistentwiththeactualbusinesspremises
• Checkwhethertheexpirationdatelabelmarksboththeproductiondateandtheexpirationdate

Port Customs Declaration: Balancing Accurate Classification and Price Declaration

There are many easily confused items in the HS code classification of food products.In 2026,the customs adjusted the classification standards for mixed seasonings: seasonings containing more than 15% sugar need to be classified under tariff code 2103.9090 instead of 2103.1000,with a tax rate difference of 8 percentage points.Zhongshen’s customs declaration team will analyze the product formula in advance,and apply for a pre-ruling to the customs classification department when necessary.This professional judgment is directly related to the enterprise’s tax burden cost.

Price declaration is another high-risk point.The customs’ review of the dutiable value of imported food has become increasingly strict,especially regarding the determination of whether royalties and special packaging costs are included in the cargo value.An importer we represented purchased milk powder from New Zealand,and the contract included brand licensing fees.There was a dispute over whether this part of the fees should be included in the dutiable value.Zhongshen assisted the enterprise in organizing similar trade data from the past three years,and finally persuaded the customs to exclude this fee from the dutiable value,saving about 12% of tax and fee expenditures.

Handling of Special Regulatory Requirements

Different food categories face differentiated regulatory requirements.Meat products require the Entry Animal and Plant Quarantine Permit,which is only valid for six months; health food requires the registration and filing certificate from the Market Supervision Administration,with an approval period of up to 18 months; manufacturers of infant formula milk powder must obtain the General Administration of Customs’ registration for overseas factories.

Commodity Inspection Release: From Sampling Inspection to Certificate Issuance

After food arrives at the port,the customs inspection and quarantine department will conduct inspections according to the preset sampling ratio.In 2026,the sampling ratio for high-risk foods remains at around 50%,while that for ordinary foods is about 5%.The inspection contents include sensory inspection,label verification,and sampling for testing.Zhongshen’s on-site coordinators will prepare cargo placement plans in advance to ensure inspection efficiency.Once there was a batch of frozen salmon from Chile,some packaging was damaged due to improper stacking at the port.We actively isolated the problematic cargo before inspection,avoiding the extreme situation where the entire batch was judged as unqualified.

The sampling test cycle directly affects the cargo release time.The Shanghai Customs Food Testing Center requires 5 working days for microbiological testing and 7 working days for physical and chemical indicators.Zhongshen has established a test progress tracking mechanism,confirming the test status with the laboratory every day.For goods that need to be launched urgently,we will assist enterprises in applying for conditional release,pick up the goods in advance with third-party guarantee,and lift the guarantee after the test results are qualified.

Disposal Strategies for Unqualified Products

When the test results show that a certain indicator exceeds the standard,enterprises face the choice of return or destruction.In 2026,the customs’ disposal process for unqualified food has become stricter,and return requires the official "fit for human consumption" certificate issued by the exporting country.Zhongshen once handled a batch of nut products judged as unqualified due to label defects.By coordinating with the manufacturer to issue a supplementary explanation document,we finally changed the disposal to technical rectification instead of direct return,saving the customer nearly 800,000 yuan in cargo value loss.

• Obtaindetailedtestdataforunqualifieditemsassoonaspossible
• Analyzewhethertheover-standardcauseisaccidentalorsystematic
• Evaluatethefeasibilityandcostoftherectificationplan
• Communicatewiththecustomsontheoptimaldisposalpath

Warehousing and Logistics: Temperature Control Management and Delivery Timeliness

Imported food has extremely strict requirements for warehousing conditions.Frozen food requires a constant temperature of minus 18 degrees Celsius,refrigerated food requires an environment of 0-4 degrees Celsius,and temperature-sensitive products such as chocolate even require a 15-degree constant temperature warehouse.Zhongshen has cooperated with 12 food-specific warehouses that meet customs regulatory requirements in Shanghai Free Trade Zone,Yangshan Port,and Waigaoqiao Area,with a total storage capacity of more than 50,000 tons.These warehouses are all equipped with 24-hour temperature and humidity monitoring systems and abnormal alarm devices.

Timeliness control in the distribution link is equally critical.The coconut water imported by Mr.Ma is a short-shelf-life product.From the completion of customs clearance to delivery to supermarket shelves,we have designed distribution standards of "port to warehouse" within 24 hours and "warehouse to store" within 48 hours.By integrating third-party logistics resources,we have achieved next-day delivery services for major cities in the Yangtze River Delta.This supply chain response speed allowed Mr.Ma’s products to be launched three days earlier than competitors,gaining an advantage in peak season sales.

Case Review: Resolution of the Italian Olive Oil Label Crisis

In March 2026,Mr.Ma planned to import a batch of Italian extra virgin olive oil with a value of about 2 million yuan.Before the cargo was shipped,Zhongshen found during the label pre-examination that the original design used "rich in monounsaturated fatty acids" as a promotional slogan,which is a nutritional claim under Chinese regulations and must be marked with specific content values.At the same time,the font size of the product name "Extra Virgin" was the same as that of the brand name,which might mislead consumers into thinking that "Extra Virgin" was the brand rather than the product grade.

We immediately launched an emergency plan: first,contact the Italian manufacturer to obtain the fatty acid composition test report of the olive oil; second,redesign the label layout,enlarge the font of the product grade information by 20%,and adjust the promotional slogan to a quantitative statement of "monounsaturated fatty acid content reaches 73%"; finally,expedite the printing and labeling of the new labels.After this batch of cargo arrived in Shanghai,customs inspection took only half a day to release,and the entire customs clearance cycle was shortened to 4 working days.Mr.Ma thus avoided at least 15 days of port detention time and potential return risks.

This case reveals a core rule: 90% of the compliance risks of imported food can be eliminated through professional pre-examination before the cargo is shipped.Waiting to find problems after the cargo arrives at the port will lead to exponential growth in rectification costs.Zhongshen’s 20 years of experience is essentially a work system for risk identification and pre-resolution.

Implicit Value of Professional Agency Services

In addition to the obvious improvement of customs clearance efficiency,the deep value of professional agency services is reflected in three dimensions.First is the foresight of policy interpretation.Zhongshen attends policy briefings by the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration for Market Regulation every month,and predicts the direction of regulatory changes three months in advance.Second is the reusability of data resources.We have accumulated tens of thousands of classification and price review cases,forming a unique knowledge base.70% of the problems encountered by new customers can be found in historical cases.Finally is the tolerance space for crisis handling.When cargo encounters abnormal inspection,the credit endorsement of the agency often allows the customs to adopt more flexible disposal plans.

In the Shanghai imported food market in 2026,competition has shifted from simple price wars to competition for supply chain efficiency.Import merchants like Mr.Ma have core competitiveness in channel construction and brand marketing.Handing over non-core customs clearance matters to Zhongshen is essentially a business decision to optimize resource allocation.Our role is to ensure that the supply chain link does not become a bottleneck for business development,allowing customers to focus their energy on market expansion.

From document pre-examination to final delivery,there are traps in every link that may cause cargo detention.Zhongshen’s value does not lie in the proficiency of a single point of operation,but in building a full-process risk firewall.This system has been verified by 20 years and more than 2,000 projects,and in the increasingly strict regulatory environment in 2026,it has shown stronger vitality.For enterprises planning to enter the imported food field,choosing to cooperate with professional institutions at this time may be the wisest decision to avoid trial-and-error costs.