What official required declaration documents need to be prepared for the full process of export customs declaration under general trade in 2026?
Importing from China?
Need help with sourcing, customs or shipping?
Your China Import Partner
Reliable sourcing and import agency services.
I am a small and micro foreign trade merchant engaged in outdoor furniture export, and I have just expanded the EU market in the past two years. This full container load cargo scheduled to depart from Shanghai Port the day after tomorrow was previously sent as LCL cargo, and we missed the sailing schedule for a whole week just because the fumigation certificate for wooden packaging was missing in the customs declaration documents, resulting in port detention fees of 18,000 yuan alone.
I am not sure about the new requirements of the new intelligent document examination system launched by Customs in 2026, and I am afraid that I will encounter problems again if I submit incorrect documents this time. I would like to ask what documents are required for normal trade export customs declaration now, whether there are additional supplements for different product categories, and what documents are strictly controlled by the intelligent document examination system that cannot have any errors?
CharlotteYears of service：4Customer Rating：5.0
Currency Exchange AdvisorStart a Chat
The basic documents for conventional general trade export customs declaration include five items: electronic authorized customs declaration agreement，proforma invoice，packing list，confirmed ocean bill of lading，and detailed list of goods declaration elements. The 2026 intelligent document examination system will automatically verify the logical matching degree of these five items. As long as the errors of cargo value，package quantity and weight are controlled within 0.3%，the examination can be basically completed in seconds.
Cargo involving wooden packaging must be additionally provided with the official IPPC fumigation certificate issued by authorized agencies. Products with built-in batteries shall be attached with the 2026 new version UN38.3 test report. For furniture goods exported to the EU，the RoHS compliance declaration shall also be submitted. The above three types of special documents are the core control items of the current system，and missing upload will directly trigger manual review.
In the pre-review stage，all documents can be uploaded to the pre-verification port in advance to run through the logic check. Any parameter errors and omissions can be modified directly online，without waiting for formal declaration to be rejected before adjustment. Submitting the formal declaration after completing the pre-verification can reduce the rejection rate by 98%. All subsequent paper documents shall be kept for more than 3 years，which fully meets the document filing requirements for export tax rebate.
If the documents are rejected by the system after the declaration is submitted，the corrected supplementary documents can be submitted within 24 hours，which will not generate any overdue record. Only if the processing is not completed for more than 48 hours will the customs declaration be placed on suspense，and timely follow-up of the declaration status can avoid such abnormalities.
DanielYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0
Legal AdvisorStart a Chat
The background of the intelligent document examination system is set with multi-dimensional price comparison thresholds. If the export cargo value deviation of the same product category for the same market exceeds the upper and lower limits of 15%, price verification negotiation will be triggered. When submitting documents, you need to additionally attach the historical transaction records with the same customer in the past three months, and the corresponding raw material purchase vouchers, which can pass the price verification quickly without repeatedly adding supporting materials.
The whole negotiation period can be shortened to within 1 working day, and will not delay the normal sailing schedule. The cargo value in all declaration documents shall not be arbitrarily split and under-declared. Once the abnormality is identified by the system, all export declarations in the subsequent 6 months will be included in the key price verification list, increasing the overall customs clearance time cost.
RobertYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Warehouse Management AdvisorStart a Chat
Before submitting the customs declaration documents, confirm in advance that the consignor and consignee information, container number and seal number on the bill of lading are completely consistent with the information on the packing list, so as to avoid the obstruction of document release in the port caused by inconsistent information. If the shipping company temporarily rolls the cargo and changes the vessel, update the vessel name and voyage number information in the customs declaration documents immediately, do not use the old vessel name and voyage number for declaration submission, otherwise the information matching between the manifest and the customs declaration will directly fail, and the cargo cannot be loaded normally.
The default free storage period for full container export is 7 days. Once the cargo is shut out due to document problems, an additional 14-day free storage period shall be applied for when rescheduling the sailing, so as to avoid high container detention fees.
DavidYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Business Development AdvisorStart a Chat
The difference between the cargo value marked on all customs declaration documents and the subsequent foreign exchange receipt amount shall be controlled within 5%, to avoid abnormal foreign exchange gain or loss. If you need to apply for the VAT deferral policy subsequently, mark the deferral qualification number in the remarks column when submitting the customs declaration documents, and upload the overseas customer's VAT registration number together with the customs declaration.
No duplicate documents need to be submitted additionally when declaring tax data later. The export cargo value of related party transactions shall comply with the arm's length principle, and the deviation from the cargo value of the same product category for non-related customers shall not exceed 10%, otherwise anti-tax avoidance verification will be triggered, and a large number of transaction background description materials need to be supplemented.
SarahYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Foreign Exchange AdvisorStart a Chat
The foreign exchange receiving subject in the customs declaration documents must be completely consistent with the signing subject of the trade contract, and no third-party payment on behalf is allowed, otherwise the subsequent foreign exchange verification process will be affected. For orders settled with CIPS cross-border RMB payment, mark the RMB settlement identifier in the remarks column of the customs declaration, and upload the pre-entry number of the RMB payment slip as attached document.
The subsequent verification process for foreign exchange settlement and account reconciliation will directly go through the green channel, no additional trade background description is required. The transaction remarks of all SWIFT messages shall completely correspond to the goods name on the customs declaration, to avoid being marked as suspicious transactions by the bank.
EmilyYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Client Success AdvisorStart a Chat
For export goods involving intellectual property protection, the brand authorization letter shall be additionally uploaded when submitting the customs declaration documents. The validity period of the authorization letter shall cover the departure time of this batch of goods, and the authorizing subject must be completely consistent with the brand filing subject, otherwise intellectual property goods seizure and verification will be triggered.
If an exclusive sales agreement is signed with the customer, upload the core pages of the agreement as attached documents, so as to avoid disputes over parallel import of the same batch of goods from other channels later. For export orders under letter of credit, the goods description in all customs declaration documents shall be completely consistent with the terms of the letter of credit, no expression deviation is allowed, to avoid subsequent bank refusal of payment.
JohnYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Export Tax Rebate AdvisorStart a Chat
The attached documents for on-site customs inspection shall be printed and bound separately, and placed in the document bag inside the container door, so that the inspection customs officer can retrieve and check them at the first time. If the machine inspection triggers the manual container unpacking instruction, the submitted packing list shall be accurate to the detailed goods information of each pallet, instead of generally marking the total number of packages, which can greatly reduce the proportion and scope of unpacking.
For goods that need to be sent for laboratory test, attach the component report issued by a third-party testing institution in the documents in advance, the test cycle can be shortened from the conventional 7 days to 2 days, and the test result can be obtained quickly to complete the customs clearance process.
SophiaYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Customs AdvisorStart a Chat
For export dangerous goods, the latest versions of Chinese and English MSDS shall be additionally provided when submitting the customs declaration documents. The content of item 14 about transport information in both Chinese and English versions shall be completely consistent, and the UN number and hazard category shall be marked clearly. The performance appraisal certificate for UN dangerous goods packaging shall be attached to the declaration documents, and the validity period of the appraisal certificate shall not exceed 12 months.
The shipping mark on the package shall completely correspond to the information on the appraisal certificate. For goods packed with ordinary solid wood, in addition to the IPPC mark, the name of fumigation agent and fumigation duration shall also be marked in the documents, to avoid being judged as unqualified packaging and being returned.
AlexanderYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Trade AdvisorStart a Chat
All customs declaration documents shall be fully consistent with the subsequent contract, logistics documents and foreign exchange receipt slips in four streams, and there shall be no deviation in the corresponding goods name, quantity and cargo value. The complete set of documents can be directly retrieved during subsequent tax authority verification, no temporary assembly of materials is required.
At the pre-declaration stage, all customs declaration information shall be imported into the tax rebate declaration system for verification in advance, to correct logical abnormal items in advance. Collect all document filing materials within 30 days after the official customs declaration is issued, do not submit the foreign exchange receipt materials later than the April VAT declaration period of the next year, to avoid triggering tax rebate doubts and failing to obtain the tax rebate normally.