The competitive landscape of Chinese tea in the international market has changed significantly in 2026.While overseas consumer demand for high-quality green tea and organic tea continues to grow,the access thresholds of major target markets such as the EU,the US and Japan are rising year by year.The EU,in particular,has the strictest pesticide residue testing standards for tea in the world,and its regulations are updated frequently,leaving many tea enterprises without a professional foreign trade team facing repeated setbacks in the export process.Incidents of cargo detention at the port of destination,return or even destruction occur from time to time,causing huge economic losses to enterprises.Zhongshen has been engaged in the foreign trade agency industry for more than 20 years.In view of the special attributes of tea export,it has built a full-process service system covering documents,logistics,customs clearance and tax refund,which effectively helps customers avoid trade risks and improve customs clearance efficiency.

Export Qualification Filing and Compliance Review

Tea is a plant-derived food,so strict qualification filing and compliance review must be completed before export.This is the first step for products to successfully enter the international market,and it is also the basic work that is most likely to cause delays in subsequent links due to negligence.The operation team of Zhongshen will assist customers to sort out and complete all necessary administrative procedures.

Exporter and Producer Filing

According to the latest regulatory requirements of the General Administration of Customs in 2026,all production,processing and packaging enterprises of tea for export must complete the filing of export food production enterprises with the customs.When serving customers,Manager Liu of Zhongshen will first verify whether the enterprise has a valid filing number.For new customers that have not yet filed,the team will guide them to prepare materials such as factory floor plans,production process flow charts,and hygiene quality management system documents to ensure that the enterprise complies with the Regulations on the Administration of Filing of Export Food Production Enterprises.This step is not only to meet customs clearance requirements,but also to ensure traceability of product sources and compliance with international food safety standards.

Product Testing and Standard Compliance

Different countries have completely different requirements for the physicochemical indicators,pollutant limits and pesticide residue limits of tea.Zhongshen has a rich industry database and can provide customers with an accurate list of testing items according to the specific regulations of the target market.For example,for the EU market,the team will pay special attention to high-profile pesticide residue indicators such as buprofezin and imidacloprid; for the US market,it will focus on reviewing the content of melamine and heavy metals.After the goods are produced but before shipment,Zhongshen will advise customers to send samples to a third-party laboratory with CNAS qualification for pre-inspection.Once abnormal data is found,the team will immediately assist customers to adjust batches or find alternative raw materials,block unqualified products from flowing overseas from the source,and avoid high fines or destruction orders at the port of destination.

Breakthroughs in International Transportation and Customs Clearance Difficulties

Tea has the characteristics of high hygroscopicity and easy odor tainting,and is classified as sensitive cargo in international logistics.How to ensure that the quality of goods is not damaged during long-distance transportation while meeting the strict phytosanitary quarantine requirements of the destination country is the core difficulty in export operations.Zhongshen has solved this industry pain point through customized logistics solutions.

Packaging and Fumigation Treatment

In 2026 international trade practices,the quarantine requirements for wooden packaging remain strict.If wooden pallets or wooden boxes are used for the outer packaging of tea,effective fumigation treatment must be carried out and IPPC marking must be provided.The logistics specialist of Zhongshen will confirm with the shipping company in advance during the booking stage,and supervise the compliance of the fumigation process before container loading.In addition,in view of the moisture-sensitive characteristic of tea,the team will advise customers to place desiccants in the container and use inner packaging materials with better barrier properties such as aluminum foil bags.Manager Liu once handled a case where tea became moldy due to dampness in the container.Since then,Zhongshen has listed "container suitability inspection" as a mandatory service for tea export to ensure that the container is clean,dry and odor-free,and guarantee the safety of goods from the physical level.

Response to Customs Clearance Barriers in Destination Countries

The EU implements full-process "from port to table" monitoring of imported tea.After the goods arrive at EU ports,the customs will conduct random inspections according to the risk level.If selected and pesticide residues are found to exceed the standard,a RASFF notification will be initiated.Zhongshen greatly reduces the probability of random inspection through accurate document preparation and risk prediction.The team will ensure that the phytosanitary certificate,health certificate and analysis certificate provided with the goods are completely consistent with the cargo information.The analysis certificate,in particular,must be issued by a qualified laboratory,and the testing data must truly reflect the condition of the goods.Relying on close cooperation with overseas customs brokers,Zhongshen can declare in advance before the goods arrive at the port.Once customs inspection is required,it can quickly cooperate to provide supplementary documents and shorten the port detention time.

Foreign Exchange Settlement and Export Tax Refund Management

The final closed loop of foreign trade business lies in the safe repatriation of funds and the timely receipt of export tax refunds.Tea export usually involves large amounts of money and frequent exchange rate fluctuations,and the tax refund link has extremely high requirements for document matching.Zhongshen guarantees the safety and efficiency of customers’ capital chain with professional foreign exchange management capabilities and tax planning experience.

Compliant Foreign Exchange Receipt and Settlement

In 2026,the State Administration of Foreign Exchange pays more attention to substantiality and compliance in the management of foreign exchange receipts and payments for goods trade.Zhongshen will guide customers to choose the appropriate foreign exchange receipt path according to the payment method agreed in the contract (such as T/T,L/C or D/P).For business under letters of credit,the team will strictly review the reputation of the issuing bank and the soft clause traps in the terms to ensure error-free document presentation.After receiving foreign exchange,Zhongshen will assist customers in completing the balance of payment declaration,ensuring that the source of funds corresponds to the export goods information one by one,so as to avoid affecting the enterprise’s credit rating due to declaration errors.In addition,the team will also provide customers with reasonable foreign exchange settlement suggestions based on exchange rate trends to help customers lock in profits.

Export Tax Refund Acceleration Scheme

Export tax refund is an important part of the profit of tea export enterprises.However,tax refund declaration requires the "consistency of three documents",that is,the information of the customs declaration form,special VAT invoice and export verification sheet for foreign exchange receipt must be completely matched.Any minor difference in data may lead to obstruction of the tax refund process or even audit.Zhongshen has established a strict document review mechanism.After receiving the input invoice provided by the customer,it will immediately compare it with the customs pre-entry declaration form.

• Customsdeclarationformreview:Confirmthatthecommoditycode(HSCode)isclassifiedaccuratelyandthedeclarationelementsarecorrect,especiallythedescriptionsofteavarieties,productionprocesses,etc.mustbeconsistentwiththeinvoice.
• Invoicemanagement:Checkwhethertheproductname,quantityandunitontheVATinvoicefullycorrespondtothecustomsdeclarationform,andensurethattheinvoiceiswithinthevalidityperiodandnotcancelled.
• Datadeclaration:Aftercollectingalldocuments,conductpaperlessdeclarationthroughthesinglewindowortaxrefundsystem,andfollowupthereviewprogressofthetaxauthorityinrealtime.

The tax refund team of Zhongshen has an average of more than 10 years of operation experience.For common doubts in letter verification,they can quickly prepare detailed supporting materials for explanation,ensure that the tax refund is returned to the customer’s account as quickly as possible,and effectively ease the capital pressure of the enterprise.

Customized Agency Service Options

Tea export is a systematic project involving multiple professional fields such as policies and regulations,logistics transportation,and financial settlement.For tea enterprises without a professional foreign trade team,self-operation often faces the dilemma of low efficiency and uncontrollable risks.With 20 years of industry accumulation,Zhongshen can provide customized agency service solutions according to the product characteristics (such as green tea,black tea,oolong tea) and target markets (such as the EU,countries along the Belt and Road Initiative) of different customers.Whether it is the first export of a start-up tea enterprise or the supply chain optimization of a large tea enterprise,Zhongshen can help customers move forward steadily in the complex international trade environment and maximize product value through professional operation and refined management.