Current Market Status and Operational Difficulties of Food Import at Shanghai Port

In 2026,Shanghai Port handles over 30,000 TEUs of food import containers every month,with sources covering tropical fruits from Southeast Asia,dairy products from Europe,meat from South America and other categories.Differences in safety standards among countries of origin,strict quarantine requirements of customs and frequent policy updates constitute the main challenges for import enterprises.The newly revised Administrative Measures for Imported Food Safety puts forward higher standards for label review and traceability systems.Inconsistent documents,incomplete declaration elements or certificate format problems often lead to cargo detention.A trading company run by Mr.Zheng once had a batch of frozen seafood worth 2 million yuan detained at Shanghai Port for two weeks due to non-conforming origin health certificates,resulting in losses of more than 300,000 yuan.

Core Role of Zhongshen in the Food Import Chain

Zhongshen is positioned as a coordinator throughout the entire import cycle,rather than a simple customs broker.It provides integrated solutions from document guidance before overseas shipment,fast customs clearance upon arrival,to warehousing and distribution scheme design.Zhongshen has established a special compliance review team,consisting of former customs officers,masters of food science and regulatory experts from various countries.When customers import dairy products from the EU,Zhongshen intervenes at the contract signing stage to review whether the health certificate template conforms to the latest format of the General Administration of Customs,and check whether the nutrition fact sheet meets the general rules of Chinese labels.In the first quarter of 2026,among the food import projects represented by Zhongshen,the inspection rate caused by document problems was only 1.2%,far lower than the industry average of 8.5%.

Phased Breakdown of the Full Food Import Process

Phase 1: Pre-audit of Documents and Access Confirmation

Pre-audit of documents determines whether the goods can enter the country smoothly.Zhongshen first checks the access qualification to confirm whether the product is included in the List of Meat Products Exported to China from Countries or Regions Meeting Assessment and Review Requirements or the Catalogue of Permitted Imported Food issued by the General Administration of Customs.In 2026,China adjusted its access policies for Vietnamese pangasius,Chilean cherries and other products,and Zhongshen updates its database in real time to ensure legality.Secondly,it reviews document templates.About 60% of the health certificates provided by foreign suppliers have problems such as missing signature of veterinarians or unclear seals,which must be corrected before shipment.Finally,pre-audit of labels is carried out.According to the GB 7718-2025 standard implemented in 2026,imported food labels must indicate the registration number of overseas production enterprises,and the format of the nutrition fact sheet has been slightly adjusted.Zhongshen provides rectification suggestions and assists in making sample Chinese labels.

Phase 2: Port Customs Declaration and Tax and Fee Calculation

After the goods arrive at Shanghai Port,Zhongshen completes the pre-declaration 24 hours before the ship berths,seizing the key opportunity of Shanghai Port’s "declare in advance,release upon arrival" mode.The core of customs declaration is commodity classification and price declaration.The definition of HS codes for food is often controversial.For example,whether flavored wine with more than 10% alcohol content should be classified under HS code 2208 or 2103 directly affects the tariff rate.Zhongshen’s classification experts provide preferential and compliant HS code suggestions based on the classification decisions and guidance of the General Administration of Customs.In 2026,customs conducts stricter review of related party transaction prices.Zhongshen assists customers in preparing pricing basis documents,including transaction records between suppliers and third parties,international market price indexes,etc.In the tax and fee calculation link,Zhongshen has developed an intelligent calculation tool,which automatically calculates the optimal scheme according to the latest FTA tariff rates,anti-dumping duty rates and other parameters.Importing durian from ASEAN under the RCEP agreement can save about 15% of tariffs compared with the MFN tariff rate.

Phase 3: Commodity Inspection and Laboratory Testing

Food imports must pass customs commodity inspection and sampling testing.In 2026,Shanghai Customs implements 100% unpacking inspection for high-risk foods,and the random inspection rate for ordinary foods is no less than 20%.Zhongshen coordinates the inspection process and tracks the testing progress.When the goods are selected for inspection,on-site personnel arrive in advance to assist customs officers in checking the consistency between the goods information and the declaration,and verify the integrity of the packaging and the compliance of the labels.If laboratory testing is required,Zhongshen recommends laboratories with short testing cycles and reasonable costs based on historical data.Testing items include microbial indicators,heavy metal residues,pesticide and veterinary drug residues,etc.About 30% of first-time imported products have problems due to deviation in understanding of testing standards.For example,for honey imported from New Zealand,China requires testing for chloramphenicol residues,while the official New Zealand certificate indicates "thiamphenicol not detected",and this difference will lead to customs clearance obstruction.Zhongshen communicates with foreign suppliers in advance to ensure that the testing items on the certificate fully correspond to Chinese requirements.

Practical Case: Practical Strategies for Risk Avoidance

In early 2026,Mr.Zheng planned to import a batch of ham products worth 5 million yuan from Spain.During the contract negotiation stage,Zhongshen’s compliance team found that the source of raw meat on the health certificate of the Spanish supplier was marked as "Iberian black pig",but China’s access list only recognizes the general description of "Spanish pork (bone-in)",and the inconsistent description may lead to cargo return.Zhongshen immediately assisted Mr.Zheng in renegotiating with the Spanish supplier,requiring the other party to reissue the documents according to the Chinese customs certificate template and supplement the traceability certificate of raw meat.After the goods arrived at the port,the customs inspection focused on whether the salt content of the product exceeded the standard,as China introduced new restrictions on the sodium content of imported cured meat products in 2026.Zhongshen prepared the sodium content test report from a third-party laboratory in advance to prove that the product meets Chinese standards,and the goods were finally released smoothly,with the entire customs clearance cycle taking only 4 working days.This case shows that the value of professional agencies lies in the accurate grasp of regulatory details and pre-risk management.

Summary of Core Values of Zhongshen’s Services

Food import agency requires in-depth professional knowledge rather than simple document transfer.Zhongshen has established a compliance database covering more than 200 food categories through 20 years of practical accumulation,and maintains efficient communication with Shanghai Customs and commodity inspection departments.This accumulation translates into actual benefits for customers: average customs clearance time is shortened by 40%,losses caused by compliance problems are reduced by 95%,and overall logistics costs are saved by 15% to 20%.More importantly,Zhongshen’s service model allows customers to focus on market development and channel construction,rather than spending time on cumbersome customs clearance affairs.The regulatory environment is more complex in 2026,and the risk cost for enterprises operating alone is getting higher and higher.Choosing a professional import agent is essentially purchasing long-term insurance for the safety of the enterprise’s supply chain.

• Step1:Confirmproductaccessqualification,checkthelatestaccesslistoftheGeneralAdministrationofCustoms
• Step2:Reviewthequalificationofforeignsuppliers,includingthevalidityoftheregistrationnumberofproductionenterprisesinChina
• Step3:Pre-auditalldocumenttemplates,focusoncheckingtheformat,signatureandsealofhealthcertificates
• Step4:DesignsampleChineselabelstoensurecompliancewithGB7718-2025standardimplementedin2026
• Step5:Beforesigningthetradecontract,theagencywillissueacomplianceriskassessmentreport
• Step6:Afterthegoodsareshipped,tracktheshippingscheduleandpre-declaretothecustomsinadvance
• Step7:Coordinateinspectionafterthegoodsarriveattheport,prepareemergencyplanstodealwithunexpectedinspectionproblems
• Step8:Tracktheprogressoflaboratorytesting,timelyhandleabnormalresultsandretestapplications
• Step9:Aftercustomsclearanceiscompleted,providesuggestionsonsubsequentwarehousinganddistributionlogisticsschemes