Current Status and Compliance Challenges of EU Market Access in 2026

As we enter 2026,the EU market still has strong demand for Chinese new energy products,but the regulatory environment has undergone profound changes.The EU new Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 has entered the full implementation phase,putting forward quantitative indicators for carbon footprint declarations,recovery rates and due diligence of portable batteries and industrial batteries.For enterprises planning to export lithium batteries and related energy storage equipment to core markets such as Germany and France,the traditional extensive export model is no longer sustainable.Recently,Mr.Luo mentioned during his communication with us that a batch of his company’s goods was detained at the Port of Hamburg due to failure to update the dangerous goods packaging certificate information in time,which not only incurred high demurrage fees,but also faced the risk of being reshipped.This shows that under the current strict trade policies,export customs declaration and inspection is no longer a simple document transfer,but a systematic project involving product compliance,accurate data and risk prediction.

Zhongshen has been deeply engaged in the foreign trade agency field for more than 20 years,and has established a mature response mechanism for the latest EU regulatory developments in 2026.We not only pay attention to the physical attributes of the goods,but also deeply understand the regulatory red lines of the target market.By pre-matching product characteristics with EU access standards,Zhongshen can help export enterprises avoid most compliance risks before the goods depart,ensuring the smooth and safe trade process.

Document Preparation: Accurate Compliance with EU New Regulation Requirements

In the initial stage of export customs declaration and inspection,the accuracy of document preparation directly determines the efficiency of subsequent customs clearance.For lithium battery exports,the EU customs audit standards for dangerous goods transportation have been further improved in 2026.When assisting customers in organizing documents,Zhongshen will focus on verifying the following key documents to ensure they comply with the latest version of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code and EU specific requirements.

• DangerousGoodsPackagingCertificateandUN38.3TestReport:TheInspectionResultCertificateforUseofTransportPackagesforOutboundDangerousGoodsmustbevalid,andtheversionnumberoftheUN38.3summaryreportshallbeconsistentwiththelatestinternationalstandards.Wewillhelpenterprisescheckthecorrespondencebetweenbatterymodelsandreportstopreventdocumentinvalidationduetomodelupgrades.
• MSDSSafetyDataSheet:TheEUrequiresthatMSDSmustincludethelatestREACHregistrationinformationandemergencyresponsemeasures.TheprofessionalteamofZhongshenwillreviewthetransportationclassificationinformationintheMSDStoensureitiscompletelyconsistentwiththedeclarationelementsofcustomsdeclaration.
• EUDeclarationofConformity(DoC):Startingfrom2026,allbatteriesplacedontheEUmarketmustbeaccompaniedbyaDoCcontainingcarbonfootprintinformation.Wewillguidecustomerstocorrectlyfillinthemanufacturerinformationandconformityassessmentstandardstoensurethatvalidcompliancecertificatescanbeprovidedduringcustomsinspection.

Through Zhongshen’s pre-audit service,the subsequent batches of goods of Mr.Luo’s company corrected data conflicts in three documents before declaration,so that the declaration data,actual goods and onboard documents achieved "three consistency",greatly reducing the probability of being targeted for customs inspection.

Export Customs Declaration and Clearance: Breaking Through Regulatory Barriers

The core difficulties of the customs declaration link lie in the accurate classification of HS codes and the reasonableness of price declaration.Lithium batteries and their components involve multiple tariff items in the customs tariff,such as 8507.60.00 (lithium-ion batteries) or 8507.90.00 (other batteries).In 2026,the General Administration of Customs has strengthened the monitoring of classification differences.Once the classification is wrong,it will not only involve tax repayment,but also may affect the credit rating of the enterprise.

With rich practical experience,Zhongshen’s operation team can accurately determine the HS code according to the battery’s capacity,purpose and composition.When declaring to the customs,we adopt a declaration strategy of "strict logic and complete elements",and standardize the filling of key indicators such as specifications,models,brands and production capacity.For EU destination port clearance,Zhongshen uses the cooperative overseas agent network to match the customs clearance data of Chinese ports with the EU ICS (Import Control System) in advance.This "forward and backward extended" service model effectively solves the port detention problem caused by differences in declaration standards.

In addition,for some sensitive products facing anti-dumping investigations or quota restrictions,Zhongshen will update trade early warning data in real time,truthfully declare the certificate of origin in the customs declaration form,ensure that customers can legally enjoy zero tariff or most-favored-nation treatment,and avoid additional costs caused by policy misunderstandings.

Risk Response and Inspection Handling

No matter how sufficient the preparation is,random inspections still exist.When encountering customs inspection,the advantage of Zhongshen lies in its strong on-site coordination ability.We are familiar with the operation procedures of major inspection sites in Shanghai Port,and can assist enterprises to quickly cooperate with the customs to complete inspection actions such as unpacking and sampling.For dangerous goods such as lithium batteries,we arrange vehicles and personnel with dangerous goods operation qualifications to stand by in advance to ensure that the inspection process complies with safety regulations and shorten the inspection waiting time.

Export Tax Refund: Accelerating Capital Recovery

For most foreign trade enterprises,export tax refund is an important part of profits.However,the complexity of the tax refund process often leads to an overly long capital occupation period.Zhongshen has significantly improved the tax refund speed through in-depth connection with the tax authorities using digital means.

After the goods depart and are cleared,we immediately start the tax refund data collection work.Zhongshen’s financial team will strictly compare the customs declaration form,VAT invoice and foreign exchange settlement slip to ensure "three documents consistency".In the paperless tax refund declaration environment of 2026,we use encrypted channels to directly submit high-fidelity electronic data to the tax system,greatly reducing the rejection rate of manual pre-examination.Generally,the arrival period of tax refund businesses handled by Zhongshen’s agency is more than 30% shorter than the industry average,effectively alleviating the capital turnover pressure of customers.

Comparison Between Traditional Model and Agency Service Efficiency

To more intuitively demonstrate the value of professional agency services,we have conducted a comparative analysis of the effects of enterprises operating on their own and entrusting Zhongshen for agency:

Choose Customized Agency Services

Facing the increasingly complex international trade environment,choosing a professional export customs declaration and inspection agency is not only about outsourcing tedious administrative work,but also building a firewall for enterprises’ compliant operation and profit maximization.Relying on 20 years of industry accumulation in Shanghai,Zhongshen can provide full-process customized solutions from document preparation,logistics transportation to tax planning for different types of products and target markets.If you want to improve customs clearance efficiency,avoid export risks and accelerate tax refund capital recovery,please contact Zhongshen,let us escort your export business.