Full-process Agency Service for Food Imported from Japan, Compliant and Fast Handling of Commodity Inspection, Customs Declaration, Warehousing and Distribution End-to-End Link

Core Access Thresholds for Food Imported from Japan (2026 Latest Rules)

All food exported from Japan to China must first meet the requirements of GACC Decree No.248,that is,overseas food production,processing and storage enterprises must complete GACC registration and filing.Food produced by manufacturers without corresponding qualifications will be directly returned or destroyed.Secondly,it is necessary to confirm that the product ingredients fully comply with China’s national standards,especially food additives must be listed in GB2760,and the addition amount meets the limit requirements of corresponding categories.Some additives not approved in China cannot be accessed even if they are compliant in Japan.

Access requirements for Japanese food of different categories vary greatly,please refer to the table below for details:

Key Pitfall Avoidance Tips for Japan Food Import Agency

Short-sea routes have short transportation time and tight cut-off time.Many enterprises operating for the first time are prone to incur high hidden costs due to negligence of details.We have sorted out high-frequency pitfalls:

• Match document validity in advance: The shipping time from Japan to Shanghai via short-sea route only takes 3-5 days.All documents should be submitted for pre-review 7 days before cargo departure to avoid detention fee (around RMB 800 per day for 40ft container) caused by unqualified documents after arrival.
• Pre-review Chinese labels in advance: In 2026,the sampling inspection rate of imported food labels at Shanghai Port increased to 42%.If labels not filed in advance are unqualified,they need to be rectified in the supervised warehouse,resulting in storage and rectification fees of about RMB 3,000 to 8,000 per batch.
• Declare dutiable value truthfully: Most Japanese food imports adopt EXW terms.Overseas freight,insurance and handling fees should be fully included in the dutiable value.Deliberate under-declaration will lead to customs valuation adjustment,tax repayment and late fee payment.
• Verify access list in advance: It is necessary to confirm in advance that the product origin is not within the list of Japan’s nuclear radiation risk areas banned from import by China.Violators will have their goods directly destroyed,and relevant enterprises will be included in the customs dishonest enterprise list.

Reference of Actual Operation Cases

Last year,Mr.Lu imported Hokkaido Shiroi Koibito cookies.He found a freight forwarder to operate on his own for the first time.Since he did not know that overseas manufacturers need to complete GACC registration,the goods could not be declared after arrival and were detained at Yangshan Port for 1 month.The detention fee and port storage fee alone cost RMB 82,000.Later,he found us through the introduction of industry peers.

After taking over the project,we immediately promoted two operations simultaneously: First,we coordinated the local cooperative team in Japan to connect with the manufacturer,and used the emergency registration channel under GACC Decree No.248,which shortened the original 20-working-day registration process to 7 days.Second,we carried out Chinese label pre-review simultaneously,and prepared a rectification plan for compliant labels in advance.We completed the declaration on the day the qualification was issued,and applied for on-port mobile rectification,so that labels can be pasted directly at the port yard without transferring to the supervised warehouse.Finally,it only took 12 days from our receiving the goods to the release of the goods,18 days earlier than Mr.Lu’s expected 30 days.Later,Mr.Lu has a stable order of 2 containers per month,the average customs clearance time is controlled within 3 working days,and the overall customs clearance cost is 32% lower than before.

Our Service Coverage Capability

Zhongshitong is headquartered in Shanghai,and can undertake off-site declaration business at 12 ports across the country.We have long-term cooperative local service outlets in Tokyo and Osaka,Japan,which can cover door-to-door pickup across Japan,and support end-to-end agency services for all trade terms such as EXW,FOB,CIF.For Japanese food under RCEP,we can verify the qualification of certificate of origin in advance.Eligible categories can enjoy zero tariff preference at most,which can save up to 15% of tax cost per batch of goods.

For customers with bonded storage and transshipment needs,we can connect with bonded warehouse resources in Shanghai Waigaoqiao and Yangshan Port,provide end-to-end services of bonded storage,distribution,labeling and transshipment.Documents such as certificate of non-manipulation required for transshipment can be issued within 1 working day,which fully meets the fast turnover demand of short-sea routes.

Risk Warning Notice

At present,there are three high-frequency risk points for Japanese imported food that need to be focused on: First,some freight forwarders deliberately conceal the access requirements for nuclear radiation areas,and accept food orders from prohibited entry areas,which eventually leads to the destruction of customers’ goods and penalties.We will verify the product origin before accepting orders,and confirm the access before signing the contract.Second,the switching bill fee trap of nominated freight forwarders: many nominated freight forwarders at Japanese ports of origin charge switching bill fees as high as RMB 2,000 to 3,000 per container.We lock the fees with all partner shipping companies in advance,and all charging items are clarified in advance with no hidden charges.Third,the risk of JPY exchange rate fluctuation: the fluctuation range of JPY exchange rate will remain at around 8% in 2026.We can assist customers in handling exchange rate hedging services to avoid exchange losses.