2026 Full Process of Food Import Customs Declaration and Inspection, Shanghai Port Access and Inspection Compliance Operation Guide

2026 Pre-access Requirements for Food Import Customs Declaration and Inspection

The core prerequisite for food import is complying with GACC supervision requirements.Decree No.248 clarifies that all overseas production enterprises of food exported to China must complete registration and filing,and food produced by enterprises not included in the designated list will be directly returned.Different categories of food also need to be provided with corresponding animal and plant quarantine certificates and health certificates,and some special categories need to apply for import licenses in advance.

For imported food from RCEP member countries,you can verify the application of cumulation rules for the certificate of origin in advance,and enjoy corresponding tariff concessions if meeting the regional value content requirements.In 2026,the coverage rate of RCEP food import declarations at Shanghai Port has reached 68%,with a maximum preferential treatment of zero tariff.Under FOB terms,you need to confirm in advance whether the overseas consignor will cooperate to provide the full set of documents,so as to avoid additional costs caused by document supplementation after the goods arrive at the port.

Core Operation Nodes of Food Import Customs Declaration and Inspection

Customs declaration and inspection operations shall be promoted in advance according to the nodes to avoid process jams.The first step is commodity inspection pre-review.You need to submit the full set of documents to the local commodity inspection authority for pre-review 7 days before the arrival of the goods,to check problems such as document discrepancies and unqualified labels in advance,which can greatly reduce the rectification probability during on-site inspection.The second step is customs valuation.You need to provide trade contracts,foreign exchange payment vouchers,freight insurance policies and other materials truthfully to avoid clearance delays caused by valuation consultation.Dedicated personnel shall be arranged to accompany during the on-site inspection,to give reasonable explanations on the questions raised by the customs on the spot.For goods requiring sampling inspection,you need to connect with testing institutions in advance to speed up the certificate issuance.

According to the practical operation data of Shanghai Port in the first quarter of 2026,food that has completed commodity inspection pre-review in advance can shorten the average clearance cycle by 40%,and the inspection failure rate is reduced by 52%.The key practical risk avoidance points are as follows:

• The ingredient list of prepackaged food shall be checked against GB 2760 in advance for additive access qualification.For direct declarations without verification of the 17 newly added restricted additives in 2026,the return rate reaches 42%.
• Under EXW terms,the completeness of documents before overseas pickup shall be confirmed in advance to avoid detention fees caused by document supplementation after arrival.The daily container detention fee for 20ft general containers at Shanghai Port can be as high as CNY 1200 per container.
• Chinese labels shall be filed in advance.Information on the label including ingredient list,nutrition fact table,production date,shelf life,etc.shall 100% match the content on the foreign language label,and no additional promotional statements are allowed.
• For food categories subject to anti-dumping duties,the landed cost shall be calculated in advance to avoid project losses caused by omission of tax and fee calculation.

Risk Warning for Food Import Customs Declaration and Inspection

There are many hidden risks in the process of food import customs declaration and inspection,so prevention and control shall be done well in advance.The first is the switching bill fee trap.The switching bill fee of some designated freight forwarders is 30%-50% higher than the market price.Appointing an agent in advance can help you verify the switching bill fee standard in advance and avoid extra charges.The second is foreign exchange loss risk.The dutiable value filled in the customs declaration form shall fully match the foreign exchange payment amount.In 2026,the frequency of GACC’s foreign exchange verification has increased by 27%.Inconsistent amounts will lead to investigation and affect the subsequent import and export qualification of enterprises.

Label rectification is also a high-cost area.The label rectification cost after on-site inspection is more than twice as high as that of pre-review rectification in advance,and will generate additional port detention fees and yard storage fees.For fresh food,you need to connect with temperature-controlled yards in advance to avoid cargo damage caused by non-compliant temperature during the waiting period for inspection.In the first quarter of 2026,the cargo damage amount of fresh food at Shanghai Port caused by temperature control problems reached CNY 12 million.

Cross-regional Implementation Support for Food Import Customs Declaration and Inspection

Zhongshitong,headquartered in Shanghai,can realize cross-location declaration for all national ports,with a global agency network covering 37 major food exporting countries,and can provide end-to-end services including overseas document review,pickup and transportation,customs declaration and inspection,warehousing and distribution.For cross-regional importers,we can realize local coordination and port interconnection,which greatly reduces communication costs and improves clearance efficiency.

In February 2026,Director Du from Guangzhou imported a batch of Thai durians,which were detained at Shenzhen Port for 5 days due to non-conforming quarantine certificates when declaring previously,leading to expanding cargo damage.After accepting the entrustment,the Shanghai team coordinated with Shenzhen Port specialists,completed document pre-review 3 days in advance,coordinated the local customs to arrange priority inspection,and connected with the cold chain yard to reserve temperature-controlled storage space.Finally,the whole clearance process was completed in 2 days,the cargo damage rate was controlled within 0.3%,saving nearly CNY 80,000 of costs than expected.

For food import demands of different categories,we can match the optimal declaration port according to the difference of port policies.For example,fresh food can choose ports with high inspection efficiency such as Shanghai and Shenzhen preferentially,and prepackaged food can choose the local clearance mode in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta,to further reduce logistics costs.