Importing Tropical Fruits from Southeast Asia to Shanghai: Real Challenges Behind Settlement Statements

In the first quarter of 2026,imports of tropical fruits such as durian and mangosteen from Thailand and Vietnam through Shanghai Port increased by 37% year-on-year,but cases of port detention and confiscation caused by improper settlement statement handling also rose over the same period.Many enterprises believe that the import agency business settlement statement is merely a list of expenses,but this A4 sheet actually carries multiple compliance elements such as customs classification,tax rate application,foreign exchange verification and write-off,and quarantine approval.Among the cases handled by Zhongshen at Pudong Airport Port,the fresh food e-commerce operated by Mr.Fu was once questioned by customs on the authenticity of price declaration due to vague labeling of a "miscellaneous fee" on the settlement statement,and the entire batch of goods was detained at the inspection site for 8 days.

The complexity of settlement statements for imported tropical fruits far exceeds that of ordinary goods.Inconsistent formats of Southeast Asian certificates of origin,variable additional statements on phytosanitary certificates,and strict requirements for matching cold chain temperature records in the sea transport section with on-arrival random inspection data will all be directly reflected in columns such as "commodity inspection service fee" and "container detention fee adjustment item" on the settlement statement.According to Zhongshen’s operational data,in April 2026,the document amendment rate caused by inconsistency between settlement statement information and actual arrival goods at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Port Area was as high as 19%,resulting in an average additional cost of 2,300 yuan per shipment.

Four Key Stages of Settlement Statement Generation

Stage 1: Document Pre-audit and Cost Pre-verification

Before the goods are loaded,Supervisor Cheng of Zhongshen will require customers to provide five core documents: proforma invoice,packing list,certificate of origin,phytosanitary certificate,and cold treatment record form.At this point,the prototype of the settlement statement - the cost estimate form - is generated.This estimate will clearly list 12 basic fees: ocean freight,THC fee,customs declaration fee,commodity inspection fee,customs duty,value-added tax,consumption tax (if applicable),port construction fee,inspection coordination fee,and possible container detention fee reserve.

Starting from 2026,customs has stricter requirements for the identification of "transaction value" of Southeast Asian fruits.Zhongshen will identify during the pre-audit stage whether the invoice amount includes items to be adjusted such as domestic freight and insurance premiums,and will separately list the "price adjustment item" in the settlement statement.Manager Yan once handled a shipment of Vietnamese pitayas,the customer’s original invoice was CIF Shanghai USD 28,000,but domestic freight accounted for 12%,and failure to adjust would lead to overpayment of customs duty of about 3,500 yuan.Adjustments in the pre-audit stage directly determine the accuracy of the final settlement statement.

Stage 2: Port Customs Declaration and Actual Tax Payment

After the goods arrive at the port,the customs broker generates a formal customs declaration form based on the pre-recorded information,and the settlement statement enters the dynamic update period.Zhongshen’s system will capture the customs document review results in real time,and in case of classification queries or price negotiations,the settlement statement will immediately add entries such as "customs negotiation service fee" and "price query explanation material fee".In May 2026,a shipment of Thai durians was required by customs to provide a component testing report due to HS code classification dispute (between 08106000 and 08109090),and the settlement statement added a testing fee of 1,800 yuan and a time delay fee of 600 yuan for this reason.

The core of this stage is actual tax payment and container detention fee control.Zhongshen is directly connected to the systems of banks and port areas,and completes payment within 30 minutes after the customs duty and value-added tax payment receipt is generated,minimizing container detention time.The settlement statement will clearly mark three elements: "tax payment receipt number","payment timestamp",and "port release instruction receiving time" to ensure traceability of expenses.Manager Ji emphasized that in 2026,Shanghai Port requires "proof of tax payment time" for container detention fee reduction applications,and the integrity of the time chain on the settlement statement directly affects the success rate of fee reduction.

Stage 3: Commodity Inspection Sampling and Result Synchronization

The commodity inspection link for tropical fruits is the part with the largest changes to the settlement statement.Zhongshen will reserve flexible columns such as "commodity inspection sampling fee","laboratory testing fee",and "result expediting fee" in the settlement statement in advance.Once the sampling result is abnormal,such as requiring secondary inspection or implementing return shipment,the settlement statement will immediately trigger the "abnormal handling expense module".

The 2026 new regulation requires that the cold treatment records of Southeast Asian fruits must be compared with the temperature probe data after arrival at the port,and an error exceeding 1.5℃ will be judged as invalid cold treatment.Zhongshen has specially set up a "cold treatment data comparison service fee" in the settlement statement,and special personnel are responsible for data extraction and comparison to avoid customers bearing the risk of full batch return due to data inconsistency.A batch of Thai mangosteens imported by Ms.Wen’s company had missing arrival data due to a failure of the shipping company’s temperature recorder.Zhongshen quickly commissioned a third-party laboratory to reconstruct the temperature curve through the "emergency data recovery service fee" item in the settlement statement,and finally avoided return shipment,but the settlement statement increased by 4,200 yuan for this reason.

Stage 4: Foreign Exchange Verification and Write-off and Balance Settlement

After the goods are released,the settlement statement enters the final confirmation period.Zhongshen will compare the actually incurred expenses with the initial estimate form and generate a "cost difference explanation".The State Administration of Foreign Exchange requires in 2026 that import foreign exchange payment must match the customs declaration form amount to two decimal places,and the "special column for foreign exchange verification and write-off" on the settlement statement needs to accurately list: customs declaration form amount,actual foreign exchange payment amount,difference adjustment explanation,and verification and write-off date.

During a shipment import of Mr.Fu’s fresh food e-commerce in March 2026,the CIF amount changed due to a temporary increase in ocean freight,but the customs declaration form had already been submitted.Zhongshen separately listed the "foreign exchange difference adjustment item" in the settlement statement and assisted in submitting a situation explanation to the foreign exchange bureau,completing the verification and write-off smoothly.If this link is handled improperly,enterprises will be included in the foreign exchange monitoring abnormal list,affecting subsequent financing.

Analysis of Core Columns of Settlement Statement and Risk Points

Zhongshen disassembles the import agency business settlement statement into six modules,each corresponding to different compliance risks:

• BasicExpenseModule:Includesoceanfreight,THC,andportmiscellaneousfees.Theriskpointliesintheselectionofcurrencyconversiontimepoint.RMBexchangeratefluctuationsintensifiedin2026,andthesettlementstatementneedstoclearlymarktheexchangeratelockingtime.
• TaxandFeeModule:Customsduty,value-addedtax,consumptiontax.Theriskpointliesintheaccuracyofclassification.Zhongshenwillmarktheclassificationbasisdocumentnumberintheremarkcolumnofthesettlementstatementforsubsequentverification.
• CommodityInspectionServiceModule:Samplingfee,testingfee,expeditingfee.Theriskpointliesinthetransparencyoftestingitems.Zhongshenrequireslaboratoriestoprovideitemizedquotationsheetsasattachmentstothesettlementstatement.
• AbnormalHandlingModule:Containerdetentionfee,inspectionfee,returnshipmentreserve.Theriskpointliesinthecontrolofexpenseceiling.Zhongshensetsan"abnormalexpensecappingclause"inthesettlementstatement,andtheexcesspartisbornebytheagentfirst.
• AgencyServiceFeeModule:Chargedaccordingtocargovalueornumberofshipments.Theriskpointliesinvaguechargingstandards.Zhongshenclarifiestheservicefeecalculationbase(FOB/CIFselection)inthesettlementstatement.
• CapitalOccupationModule:Advancetaxpaymentinterest,foreignexchangelockcost.Theriskpointliesininteresttransparency.Themarketcapitalsupplyisrelativelytightin2026,andZhongshenliststheinterestcalculationmethod(dailyinterestrate,startandenddates)inthesettlementstatement.

2026 Trends of Electronic Settlement Statements and Data Connection

Shanghai Customs fully implemented the "import settlement statement electronic filing system" in 2026,requiring agent enterprises to upload structured settlement statement data to the customs single window within 24 hours after the goods are released.Zhongshen’s system has realized automatic connection,and completes XML format conversion while the settlement statement is generated,with fields covering 128 data points required by customs.

The core value of electronic settlement statements is data traceability.Zhongshen generates a unique settlement statement number for each shipment,and customers can query all expense details,payment vouchers,and tax receipt copies in the customs system through this number.In April 2026,a customer served by Manager Ji needed to retrieve import records from three years ago for audit purposes,and completed the full document retrieval within 10 minutes through the electronic settlement statement number,while the traditional paper archiving method takes an average of more than 3 working days.

Three Basic Skills for Enterprises to Self-inspect Settlement Statements

Zhongshen suggests that even if they entrust an agent,enterprises themselves need to master the settlement statement verification ability:

• TimeLogicVerification:Checkwhetherthetimechainof"arrivaldate","declarationdate","taxpaymentdate",and"releasedate"onthesettlementstatementisreasonable.TheaveragecustomsclearancetimelimitatShanghaiPortin2026is2.1days.Ifthesettlementstatementshowsthatthecustomsdeclarationtakesmorethan5workingdayswithoutabnormalexplanation,itisnecessarytobealerttotheagent’sefficiencyproblem.
• ExpenseArticulationVerification:Verifythe"customsduty"columninthesettlementstatementwiththetaxpaymentreceiptnumberontheofficialcustomswebsite,andcheckwhetherthecalculationof"value-addedtax"iscorrect(dutiablevalue+customsduty+consumptiontax)×13%.Zhongshenprovidesanonlineverificationtool,andcustomerscanautomaticallyreversededucetheaccuracyofthesettlementstatementafterenteringthetaxpaymentreceiptnumber.
• ExchangeRateUsageVerification:In2026,customswillannouncetheexchangerateofthethirdWednesdayofthepreviousmonthasthetaxcalculationexchangerateonthefirstworkingdayofeachmonth,andtheexchangerateonthesettlementstatementmustbeconsistentwiththevaluepublishedontheofficialcustomswebsite.Zhongshendirectlyembedsthecustomsexchangeratequerylinkinthesettlementstatement,andcustomerscancomparewithoneclick.

Value-added Services for Settlement Statements Provided by Zhongshen

In addition to standard settlement statement generation,Zhongshen provides three additional services for Southeast Asian fruit import customers: First,"expense insurance",customers pay a premium equivalent to 15% of the agency fee,and Zhongshen will fully compensate for additional losses caused by settlement statement errors; Second,"settlement statement financing",customers can apply for a tax advance line of up to 80% from cooperative banks with the generated settlement statement; Third,"compliance diagnosis",providing a settlement statement data analysis report every quarter to identify systematic risk points in the enterprise’s import link.

A batch of Vietnamese mangoes imported by Ms.Wen in February 2026 failed to enjoy the China-ASEAN agreement tax rate due to incorrect entry of the "certificate of origin number" in the settlement statement,resulting in overpaid customs duty of 6,700 yuan.Because she purchased Zhongshen’s expense insurance,the company completed compensation within 3 working days and provided free assistance in re-declaration,and finally recovered the overpaid tax.This mode of binding settlement statements with risk protection has gradually become a standard service configuration in the foreign trade agency market in 2026.

Conclusion: The Value of Professional Handling of Settlement Statements

The import agency business settlement statement is by no means a simple list of expenses,but a core carrier running through trade compliance,tax planning,capital scheduling,and risk isolation.Zhongshen’s 20 years of front-line experience shows that a professional settlement statement can help enterprises reduce hidden costs by 8%-12% and avoid more than 90% of compliance penalty risks.In 2026,with the deepening of digital supervision at Shanghai Port,the electronization,standardization and transparency of settlement statements have become an irreversible trend.When choosing an agent,enterprises should not only focus on the level of service fees,but focus on its refined handling ability of settlement statements and risk bearing mechanism.Through systematic settlement statement management,Zhongshen converts each import business into traceable,analyzable and optimizable data assets,which is the real value of professional agency services.