Import of Southeast Asian Frozen Durian: Common Pain Points and Solutions at Shanghai Port

In 2026,the import volume of Southeast Asian frozen fruits at Shanghai Port exceeded 120,000 tons,with frozen durian accounting for more than 42% of the total.Many traders from Zhejiang and Jiangsu are targeting this market,but they often stumble over compliance issues during import: Thai certificates of origin without details of freezing treatment are rejected for return,missing traceability codes on Chinese labels cause inspection delays,and temperature fluctuations in containers during port inspection lead to cargo damage.These problems not only slow down customs clearance but may also cause economic losses of tens of thousands of yuan.

Zhongshen has been engaged in Shanghai import agency for over 20 years,and has built a full-chain service system for the import of Southeast Asian frozen durian,which can help enterprises reduce customs clearance time by more than 30% and avoid more than 90% of compliance risks.The following is a breakdown of the specific process:

1.Document Pre-examination: Eliminate Hidden Risks of Certificates of Origin and Labels in Advance

Import of frozen durian requires the phytosanitary certificate issued by the Thai authorities,the traceability system registration certificate recognized by China Customs,as well as basic documents such as bill of lading and packing list.Starting from 2026,China Customs has added two mandatory requirements for certificates of origin: first,it must indicate "freezing treatment temperature ≤ -18℃ for 72 consecutive hours",and second,it must bear the electronic seal of the Thai Agricultural Cooperatives (which can be queried through the customs system).

Director He of Zhongshen will require customers to provide scanned copies of all documents 7 days before the shipment departs,and focus on checking three types of information:

• Whetherthephytosanitarycertificateincludes12mandatoryitemssuchas"origin:EasternThaidurianproducingarea"and"nofruitflypestdetectionrecords"
• WhethertheChineselabelisattachedtotheprominentpositionofthecontainerouterboxandincludes"productname,shelflife(≤18months),traceabilityQRcode(mustlinktoChina’simportedfoodtraceabilityplatform)"
• Whetherthecontainernumberonthebillofladingiscompletelyconsistentwiththatonthecertificateoforigin(in2026,customsrequires"singlecontainerdocument",andmixedcontainersneedtosplitthecertificateoforigin)

Last year,a batch of 20 tons of frozen durian imported by Ms.Wen from Zhejiang was missing the freezing treatment duration on the certificate of origin.Director He discovered this in advance and guided her to contact the Thai supplier to supplement the certificate,avoiding the return of the cargo after arrival at the port —— if returned,the detention fee alone would cost 18,000 yuan.

2.Port Customs Declaration: Accurate Code Matching and Early Use of "Prior Declaration" Policy

The customs commodity code for frozen durian is 0811909090,but starting from 2026,it needs to be subdivided into "with shell/without shell": peeled durian needs to provide an additional sugar content report for pulp issued by a third-party testing institution (must meet the requirement of "frozen fruit sugar content ≤25%" in China’s General Standards for Labeling of Prepackaged Foods),while durian with shell needs to provide a "shell weight ratio detection report".If the code is declared incorrectly,it will not only delay customs clearance but may also trigger 100% customs inspection.

Zhongshen’s customs declaration team will complete the electronic declaration through the Shanghai Customs "Prior Declaration" system 48 hours before the cargo arrives at the port.The specific operations include:

• Checkthecode(withshell/withoutshell)accordingtotheactualstatusofthecargo,anduploadthescannedcopyofthetestreportsimultaneously
• Mark"Coldchaintransportation,temperaturemonitoredthroughouttheprocess"inthedeclarationremarkscolumntoremindcustomstoarrangeinspectionpriority
• CoordinatewithYangshanPortTerminaltolockinthecoldchaininspectionspaceinadvancetoavoidnoavailableinspectionspaceafterthecontainerisunloaded

In March 2026,a batch of 15 tons of peeled frozen durian imported by a Shanghai trading company was declared in only 12 hours because the customs declaration team uploaded the sugar content report in advance,which was 2 days faster than the industry average.

3.Commodity Inspection: Full-process Temperature Control,the Final Line of Defense Against Cargo Damage

Frozen durian is a "high-risk quarantine product".Shanghai Port commodity inspection requires that the unpacking inspection rate is not less than 30%,and the container temperature must be stabilized at ≤-18℃ during inspection —— if the temperature fluctuation exceeds 2℃,the cargo may be destroyed due to deterioration.In addition,starting from 2026,a new requirement of "nucleic acid test of pulp samples" has been added to detect whether it carries durian Phytophthora fungi.

Zhongshen will coordinate with the Yangshan Port cold chain warehouse in advance to set up a "temporary temperature-controlled inspection station" in the inspection area.The key actions during inspection include:

• Recordthecontainertemperatureevery10minuteswithahandheldthermometeranduploadittothecommodityinspectionsystemsimultaneously
• Cooperatewithcommodityinspectionpersonneltocollect3pulpsamples(500geach)andsendthemtothedesignatedlaboratoryfortestingimmediately
• Ifthecontainertemperaturecontrolsystemfails,immediatelytransferittothebackupcoldchainwarehousetoavoidtemperaturerise

Last year,when a batch of frozen durian imported by Mr.Long arrived at the port,the container temperature rose to -12℃.Zhongshen immediately coordinated the warehouse to transfer it to the backup cold chain warehouse,and cooperated with the commodity inspection to re-sample and test.Finally,the customs clearance was delayed by only 2 days without cargo damage —— according to the conventional process,this batch of goods might be destroyed due to excessive temperature,with a loss of more than 300,000 yuan.

Core Value of Shanghai Import Customs Clearance Agents: From Passive Response to Active Risk Control

In 2026,the compliance requirements for Southeast Asian frozen fruits at Shanghai Port are still being upgraded —— for example,the "pre-shipment inspection at origin" system will be implemented in the second half of the year,requiring the cargo to complete pre-inspection recognized by China Customs before loading in Thailand.Zhongshen has established cooperation with 3 pre-inspection institutions in Thai durian producing areas in advance,which can help customers lock in the pre-inspection time in advance and avoid delays after arrival at the port.

For traders in Shanghai and surrounding areas,choosing a professional import customs clearance agent can not only solve the problems of "not understanding documents and not knowing the process",but also control risks at an early stage through pre-examination in advance,accurate declaration,full-process temperature control and other actions.According to Zhongshen’s customer data,in the first half of 2026,the cooperative frozen fruit import enterprises saw an average 35% reduction in customs clearance time,and the return rate was only 0.8% (the industry average is 3.2%).

As the competition for importing Southeast Asian frozen fruits shifts from "price war" to "compliance and efficiency war",the professional capabilities of Shanghai import customs clearance agents have become a key support for traders to seize market share.