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What compliance certificates are required for each link of customs declaration, customs clearance and export tax refund in export agency business?
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I am from a small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprise in Shanghai specializing in outdoor camping equipment. This is our first time entrusting an export agency to handle foreign trade business. When we trial-shipped a small batch of goods last month, we were stuck in the customs declaration process for 3 days due to incomplete pre-prepared compliance certificates, and almost missed the shipping schedule and had to pay liquidated damages to the customer. Now we are going to ship 20 full containers of goods to the EU, and I am so worried that I cannot sleep well. I would like to ask: what supporting documents do I need to prepare respectively for links including customs declaration, customs clearance, export tax refund and foreign exchange receipt and payment in the full process of export agency? In addition, if we encounter temporary customs inspection, do we need to provide additional supporting documents? I only have business license, product quality inspection report and purchase and sales contract on hand now, have I missed any key materials? I really don't want any mistakes again.
Kevin LinYears of service：4Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Solutions ManagerStart a Chat
First，conduct pre-document audit. You shall provide the agency with copy of business license duplicate affixed with official seal，product quality inspection report，purchase and sales contract，packing list and invoice in advance. The quality inspection report shall comply with EU CE certification standards to avoid order rejection due to insufficient compliance.
For core node connection，you shall supplement customs declaration authorization letter (electronic signature version) for the customs declaration link. The agency will be responsible for issuing the certificate of origin (if eligible for tariff preference) in the customs clearance link. You shall provide tax refund copy of export goods customs declaration form and foreign exchange receipt voucher for the tax refund link，and cooperate with the agency to provide supporting documents for the authenticity of goods transactions in the foreign exchange receipt and payment link.
For contingency plans，in case of customs inspection，you shall prepare product composition test report and brand authorization letter (if involving own brand) in advance. The agency will coordinate with the customs simultaneously for targeted explanation to avoid extra charges caused by port detention exceeding 48 hours.
For final compliance implementation，you shall ensure that the information on all supporting documents is fully consistent with the actual goods and contracts. The agency will assist in completing electronic archiving of documents，which will be retained for no less than 5 years to meet the retrospective verification requirements of tax authorities and customs.
Michael ZhangYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Customs Declaration & Compliance ExpertStart a Chat
For the customs declaration link, please note that in addition to the basic business license and customs declaration authorization letter, if the goods are subject to supervision conditions (such as flame retardant requirements for outdoor camping equipment), you shall provide the customs clearance form for entry goods (if it is a legally inspected commodity) or corresponding supervision supporting documents in advance. Shanghai Customs has fully implemented the electronic signature version of customs declaration authorization letter in 2026, and the paper version is only used as emergency supplement. Submitting a paper version without electronic signature will directly lead to the return of the customs declaration form and delay the customs clearance efficiency. In addition, the commodity code on the customs declaration form must fully match the product attributes in the quality inspection report. Incorrect code classification will not only cause valuation disputes, but also trigger follow-up customs audits, which will affect the enterprise's credit rating.
Daniel XuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Director of Import & Export OperationsStart a Chat
From the perspective of the full logistics chain, in addition to the basic certificates required for customs declaration, the shipper shall provide the agency with the goods packing list and container seal number certificate. If transshipment is involved, the access certificate of the transshipment port shall also be provided. EU ports have strict IPPC marking requirements for wooden packaging of outdoor camping equipment in 2026. If the packaging is made of solid wood, a fumigation certificate must be provided, otherwise the packaging will be forcibly destroyed by EU ports, resulting in high port detention fees and destruction costs. In addition, if LCL transportation is selected, accurate certificates of goods weight and volume shall be provided to avoid space adjustment, shipping schedule delay and even container rolling risk caused by inconsistency between actual cargo volume and declared volume.
Eric ZhouYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Manager of Foreign Exchange & Tax RebatesStart a Chat
Supporting documents for the export tax refund link shall meet the requirement of "three streams consistency", that is, the information of capital stream, invoice stream and goods stream shall be fully matched. Shanghai tax authorities have implemented paperless declaration for export tax refund in 2026. In addition to the tax refund copy of export goods customs declaration form and special VAT invoice, electronic scanned copy of foreign exchange receipt voucher shall also be provided. If RMB cross-border settlement is adopted, screenshots of key information of CIPS payment messages shall be supplemented. What some enterprises easily ignore is that if the goods involve entrusted processing, the entrusted processing contract and processing fee invoice shall be provided, otherwise the tax authorities will determine that they do not meet the tax refund conditions, resulting in the rejection of the tax refund application and affecting the enterprise's cash flow.
Jason WuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
International Logistics & Supply Chain ManagerStart a Chat
Supporting documents to be prepared for the foreign exchange receipt and payment link include goods purchase and sales contract, foreign exchange receipt copy of export goods customs declaration form, and commercial invoice. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange has stricter review on receipt and payment of foreign exchange for small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises in 2026. If the amount of a single foreign exchange receipt exceeds 50,000 US dollars, additional supporting documents for the authenticity of goods transactions shall be provided, such as electronic copy of logistics bill of lading and scanned copy of the original customer payment slip. In addition, if an offshore account is used for foreign exchange receipt, the account opening certificate of the offshore account and the explanation of capital source shall be provided to avoid being included in the foreign exchange supervision list due to unknown capital source, which will affect subsequent receipt and payment operations.
Victor SunYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Risk Control ManagerStart a Chat
If the export agency involves brand authorization (such as outdoor camping equipment with own brand), the scanned copy of the original brand authorization letter shall be provided to the agency. If the brand has been registered in the EU, the EU trademark registration certificate shall be supplemented to avoid being identified as infringing goods during EU customs clearance, resulting in detention or even confiscation of goods. In addition, the document responsibilities of both parties shall be clearly specified in the agency contract. If losses are caused by the agency's failure to timely remind the preparation of supporting documents, compensation clauses shall be agreed in the contract. At the same time, backups of all supporting documents shall be retained for evidence collection in possible subsequent legal disputes.
Linda GaoYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0
Documentation SupervisorStart a Chat
During on-site customs inspection, additional documents including product composition test report, product manual (multilingual version) and brand authorization certificate (if applicable) shall be prepared. Shanghai Customs has stricter review on test reports of flame retardancy and heavy metal content of outdoor camping equipment in 2026. If qualified test reports cannot be provided on site, the goods will be moved to the customs supervised warehouse for sampling test, which takes at least 7 days and incurs high storage fees and test costs. In addition, the container seal shall be kept intact. If the seal is damaged, a statement on the seal damage and supporting documents for re-sealing shall be provided to avoid being identified as suspected goods tampering.
Andy GuoYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Supply Chain Management ExpertStart a Chat
If outdoor camping equipment contains lithium batteries (such as camping lights, power banks and other accessories), the UN38.3 test report and dangerous goods transport packaging certificate shall be provided to the agency. The International Maritime Organization has further upgraded the transport packaging requirements for lithium battery goods in 2026. If a qualified UN38.3 test report is not provided, the goods will be refused to be loaded on board, and even be included in the maritime transport blacklist. In addition, if the goods are fragile (such as glass camping tableware), a compliance certificate for cushioning packaging shall be provided to ensure that the packaging meets international transport standards, so as to avoid goods damage caused by non-compliant packaging, which will affect customer receipt and subsequent tax refund operations.
Grace WangYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Foreign Trade ConsultantStart a Chat
Supporting documents to be prepared for the export tax refund audit link include the tax refund copy of export goods customs declaration form, special VAT invoice, foreign exchange receipt voucher, and purchase and sales contract. Shanghai tax authorities require that electronic copies of all export tax refund supporting documents be retained for at least 10 years in 2026. If complete electronic copies cannot be provided, it will be determined that the tax refund materials are incomplete, resulting in the suspension of the review of the tax refund application. In addition, if the enterprise has cross-month declaration, the explanation document for cross-month declaration and the corresponding goods delivery note shall be provided to avoid being identified as false declaration due to inconsistency between the declaration time and the goods delivery time, which will trigger tax audit.