What specific access conditions and compliance requirements need to be met for handling agency export business
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I am from a small and medium-sized manufacturing factory producing household goods in the Pearl River Delta. We have been engaged in domestic sales for 5 years, and received two batches of orders from Middle East customers this year, so we want to try export business.
However, our factory has not applied for import and export operation rights, nor have we been exposed to export-related operations. We do not know whether we can find an export agency, nor what conditions we need to meet for operation under this circumstance.
We heard from peers before that if we fail to meet the conditions, we will not only fail to get the tax refund, but also may have the goods inspected and detained by customs, and have to pay a large amount of port detention fees. Now I am rushing to arrange the shipment and have no confidence, so I would like to ask what conditions are required for agency export, whether factories like ours can do it, and what materials we need to prepare in advance?
CharlotteYears of service：4Customer Rating：5.0
Currency Exchange AdvisorStart a Chat
First of all，sorted out from the perspective of subject qualification，the entrusting party only needs to be a legally registered market entity with a fixed business place. No import and export operation rights will not affect the entrustment of agency export. This is a common misunderstanding in the industry. Many small and medium-sized factories mistakenly believe that they must apply for qualification on their own to export. In fact，policies allow all legally operating entities to entrust agency export.
Then comes the core requirements for pre-document review: first，you need to provide the true purchase and sales contract of the goods and the corresponding input invoice，second，you need to provide basic information of the goods such as accurate product name，HS code，cargo value，weight and volume，third，you need to provide the true procurement information of the overseas buyer，including consignee information and payment path information. For the connection of core nodes，you need to confirm in advance whether the goods are subject to export control. If they are sensitive goods such as dual-use items，the entrusting party needs to apply for export license documents in advance.
If you need to handle export tax refund by the agency，you additionally need to meet the four flows consistency requirement，that is，the cargo flow，invoice flow，capital flow and contract flow are corresponding and matched. The entrusting party needs to cooperate in providing relevant materials for tax correspondence investigation to ensure the compliance of the tax refund process.
For abnormal contingency plans，if the entrusting party cannot provide complete input invoices temporarily，you can complete the agency export customs clearance first，and handle the tax refund after supplementing the invoices later. The processing can be postponed for up to 6 months，which will not affect the customs clearance efficiency. At the final implementation level，as long as the entity is legal，the goods are authentic and the information is accurate，the operation can be carried out smoothly basically. You can reserve the operation window by providing the materials 3 working days in advance to avoid delaying the shipping schedule.
AlexanderYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Trade AdvisorStart a Chat
In the customs valuation link for agency export, the core requirement is that the entrusting party provides authentic proof materials of cargo value, including domestic procurement contracts, payment vouchers, transaction confirmation letters, etc. If the deviation of cargo value declaration exceeds the reasonable range, it will trigger valuation adjustment, and even lead to order rejection and declaration deletion, affecting the customs clearance efficiency. In agency export, the entrusting party needs to ensure that the declared product name and HS code are consistent with the actual goods, and cannot adjust the product name to reduce taxes and fees, otherwise it will trigger customs early warning and lead to cargo detention.
If the declared information is inconsistent with the actual situation, you need to cooperate in completing the declaration deletion and re-declaration process, and supplement authentic materials in time to avoid high port detention fees. Customs conducts random verification of agency export business every year, and the entrusting party needs to keep all relevant documents for more than 3 years for subsequent verification and call.
SophiaYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Customs AdvisorStart a Chat
In the logistics link of agency export, the entrusting party needs to provide the accurate weight, volume and packaging information of the goods in advance, and confirm whether the goods are dangerous goods or special goods. If the goods are overweight, over-sized and large-sized, you need to inform in advance to arrange appropriate shipping space, so as to avoid problems such as container rollover and port change, which will incur additional port change fees and container detention fees.
For full-container export, you need to confirm the integrity of the seal, and take photos of container loading in time for storage after loading, to facilitate on-site inspection and verification. In terms of trade terms, if it is FOB term, you need to confirm the booking requirements of the designated shipping company in advance, and cooperate in completing the booking connection to avoid delaying the shipping schedule due to untimely booking. If you need to adjust the transportation route, you only need to inform 7 days in advance to complete the port change operation, reducing unnecessary cost expenditure.
RobertYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Warehouse Management AdvisorStart a Chat
For cross-border taxation involved in agency export, the entrusting party needs to confirm the tax subject information of the overseas buyer. If VAT is required to be paid in the destination country, confirm in advance whether VAT deferral treatment is needed to reduce capital occupation cost. For cross-border related party transactions, you need to ensure that the transaction pricing complies with the arm's length principle, so as to avoid triggering investigations related to base erosion and incurring additional tax adjustment costs.
If the entrusting party is a small-scale taxpayer, agency export can only enjoy the tax exemption policy and cannot handle tax refund. You need to confirm your own taxpayer identity in advance and adjust the export plan to avoid subsequent disputes. If it involves payment to non-resident enterprises, you need to prepare relevant contracts and tax payment certificates in advance to ensure that the payment is compliant and will not be blocked.
JohnYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Export Tax Rebate AdvisorStart a Chat
In the foreign exchange receipt and payment link of agency export, the entrusting party needs to confirm the compliance of the payment path. All payment for goods must be paid from the overseas buyer's account, and cannot be circulated through third-party domestic accounts, otherwise it will affect foreign exchange verification and tax refund. If RMB cross-border payment is used, the settlement must be completed through the CIPS system, and the corresponding SWIFT message information must be provided in advance to ensure the compliance of the settlement process.
If the entrusting party has an offshore account, it is necessary to ensure the compliance of account use, and cannot conduct illegal operations such as split foreign exchange receipt, otherwise it will trigger the early warning of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and affect subsequent export business. After the foreign exchange receipt is completed, you need to provide the foreign exchange receipt memo to the agent in time to complete the foreign exchange verification process and avoid affecting the tax refund declaration.
DavidYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Business Development AdvisorStart a Chat
A standardized agency export agreement needs to be signed for agency export to clarify the rights and obligations of both parties, including the ownership of cargo rights, agency fees, payment time of tax refund, division of risk bearing, etc. If L/C settlement is used, you need to check the L/C terms in advance to check whether there are soft clauses, such as requiring documents that cannot be handled, or setting unreasonable payment conditions, so as to avoid failure to receive payment at maturity.
In case of force majeure factors, such as port strike in the destination country, the fallback clause of force majeure shall be clearly specified in the agreement to divide the loss bearing of both parties and avoid subsequent legal disputes. If the goods involve intellectual property rights, you need to complete the intellectual property customs filing in advance to avoid the goods being detained by customs.
EmilyYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Client Success AdvisorStart a Chat
In case of customs inspection of agency export goods, you need to prepare copies of all original documents in advance, including contracts, invoices, packing lists, agency agreements, etc., to cooperate with customs to complete inspection and verification. For X-ray inspection, you need to ensure that the placement of goods meets the requirements, and do not have too many metal objects to cover, so as to avoid triggering X-ray alarm and increasing the probability of container unpacking inspection.
In case of abnormal seal, you need to take photos for storage in time, inform the dock and customs staff, check the authenticity of the seal, and confirm whether there is unpacking and cargo theft. If inspection and appraisal are required, you need to cooperate in providing relevant product description materials to speed up the appraisal process, shorten the inspection time, and reduce the generation of port detention fees.
DanielYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0
Legal AdvisorStart a Chat
For tax refund processing of agency export, you need to meet the requirements of document filing. All documents need to be kept for more than 5 years, including agency export agreement, export goods declaration form, input invoice, foreign exchange receipt memo, packing list, transportation documents, etc. When the tax authority conducts correspondence investigation, you need to cooperate in providing complete materials, explain the authenticity of the transaction, ensure that the capital flow matches the cargo flow, and avoid the problem of capital return.
For cross-month declaration, you need to sort out all materials in advance and complete the submission before the end of the declaration period, so as to avoid missing the declaration time and affecting the tax refund arrival. During pre-declaration, you need to check the information in advance and correct declaration errors, so as to avoid problems in formal declaration and delaying the tax refund progress.
WilliamYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
International Logistics AdvisorStart a Chat
The packaging of agency export goods needs to meet the requirements of international transportation and the import compliance requirements of the destination country. For dangerous goods, UN standard dangerous goods packaging must be used, dangerous goods classification and appraisal must be completed in advance, and MSDS documents that meet the requirements must be prepared, otherwise they will be rejected by the port and cannot be shipped out.
For goods prone to moisture, you need to do a good job of moisture-proof reinforcement treatment, and choose appropriate cushioning packaging materials to avoid moisture damage to the goods during transportation and claim disputes. For exports to Australia, New Zealand and other countries, you need to confirm whether the packaging wood meets the IPPC fumigation requirements and affix fumigation marks, otherwise the goods will be detained by the customs of the destination country and required to be reprocessed, resulting in additional cost and time cost.