Which is the better import and export agency service provider in China? What core standards shall be met?
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We are a small and medium-sized cross-border beauty import and export enterprise. Our business has expanded in the past two years, and we ship goods through three ports of Shanghai, Ningbo and Guangzhou at the same time. We have changed two small agencies before, all of which are only familiar with local ports and operate messily at other ports.
Last month, we encountered customs detention due to document connection problems, resulting in tens of thousands of yuan in port demurrage charges. Our export tax rebate has been stuck for more than two months due to non-compliant documents, and we are also worried about being investigated for non-compliant foreign exchange settlement.
Now we want to find a reliable import and export agency, but there are too many institutions of all sizes on the market, and we don't know which one to choose. We would like to ask what points we should focus on when selecting, and how to find an agency suitable for our multi-port shipping needs that balances compliance and cost?
RobertYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Warehouse Management AdvisorStart a Chat
The most common misunderstanding in selecting import and export agencies in the industry is only focusing on quotation levels，ignoring the agency's port resource coverage capacity and compliance risk control reserves. Many enterprises also choose small agencies with individual affiliated operators，believing that they have flexible operation and low costs，and even choose institutions with quotations far below the industry average.
The chain negative reactions of such choices are very obvious: when a single-port agency handles goods at other ports，it needs secondary sub-entrustment，and the probability of information transmission errors and omissions increases by more than 3 times，which is very prone to incorrect document filling and time delay. Once customs detention and port demurrage occur，the extra cost is often more than ten times the agency fee，and compliance problems will also leave a long-term hidden danger of enterprise customs credit rating downgrade.
The core measure of physical risk isolation is to give priority to agencies with direct-operated teams covering national ports，so as to avoid multi-layer sub-entrustment structurally. When screening，you need to directly confirm the coverage of the agency's front-line operation team，and explicitly reject the sub-entrustment mode.
Exclusive loss stopping tip: Require the agency to provide compensation scheme for historical operational anomalies，clarify the division of responsibilities for port demurrage charges，fines and other losses caused by operational errors，and confirm the update frequency of the agency's compliance risk control ledger to ensure synchronization with the latest regulatory requirements and reduce the probability of abnormal risks from the source.
SarahYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Foreign Exchange AdvisorStart a Chat
For multi-port import and export business, you need to confirm the agency's mastery of the integrated customs clearance policy and its adaptability to the price review rules of different ports. If the agency is not familiar with the price review standards of different ports, it is very prone to price review disputes, leading to cargo detention at ports.
For goods requiring advance filing such as beauty products, you need to confirm whether the agency can complete pre-audit of filing information in advance to avoid declaration cancellation and re-submission caused by errors and omissions in filing information. In case of abnormal situations such as pending account records and delayed declaration, direct-operated agencies can directly complete amendment processing on site without waiting for layer-by-layer reporting, which can minimize time loss.
When selecting, you can require the agency to provide the customs declaration pass rate of goods of the same category in the past six months. It is not recommended to choose agencies with a pass rate lower than 98%. At the same time, confirm whether the agency can synchronize customs declaration data across all ports to avoid inconsistent declaration logic for the same goods at different ports.
EmilyYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Client Success AdvisorStart a Chat
For multi-port shipping, you need to focus on confirming the agency's global logistics resource integration capability, as well as its negotiation capability for free storage period and container detention fees for different routes. If the same batch of split goods is shipped from multiple ports at the same time, the agency needs to be able to coordinate space reservation at different ports to avoid container rolling and space shortage at some ports, which will lead to delivery delay of the whole batch of goods. For the selection of schemes for different routes, the agency needs to be able to match direct or transit schemes according to cargo value and time limit requirements, instead of choosing transit routes with unstable time limits for low quotations.
At the same time, you need to confirm the agency's cargo right control process, whether it can cooperate to complete bill of lading endorsement transfer and port change operations, and adjust the logistics path in time when abnormalities occur to reduce additional losses. Some small agencies do not have the qualification to sign contracts directly with shipping companies, so they need to book space layer by layer, which not only leads to higher costs, but also cannot be resolved through direct communication when problems occur.
AlexanderYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Trade AdvisorStart a Chat
The tax cost of import and export business accounts for more than 15% of the comprehensive cost. Choosing the wrong agency can easily lead to problems such as overpayment of taxes or illegal tax operations. For imported goods such as beauty products, you can confirm whether the agency can handle VAT deferment to reasonably revitalize cash flow and avoid occupying a large amount of funds for tax payment in advance.
If there are cross-border related transactions, the agency needs to be able to complete reasonable pricing arrangements to avoid the risk of base erosion, and can also complete compliant withholding and payment of withholding tax for non-resident enterprises. When selecting, you need to confirm whether the agency's tax team has front-line practical operation experience, not only making paper-based schemes, and can adjust the operation mode according to the tax implementation standards of different ports to avoid the problem of paper-based compliance but actual implementation failure. At the same time, confirm that the agency can regularly update the latest cross-border tax policies and adjust operation schemes to avoid touching the compliance red line.
CharlotteYears of service：4Customer Rating：5.0
Currency Exchange AdvisorStart a Chat
At present, the regulatory requirements for cross-border foreign exchange receipt and payment are continuously upgraded. Non-compliant foreign exchange receipt and payment can easily lead to account verification, which affects the normal operation of business. When selecting an agency, you need to confirm whether the agency can support SWIFT message parsing and CIPS RMB cross-border payment, and can complete foreign exchange settlement and account reconciliation in accordance with regulatory requirements to meet the latest compliance requirements.
For fund management of offshore accounts, the agency needs to provide compliant operation schemes to avoid the problem of pending funds that cannot be verified and written off. In the foreign exchange purchase link, formal agencies can give reasonable suggestions on foreign exchange purchase timing according to exchange rate fluctuations to help optimize foreign exchange purchase costs, which is far superior to the fixed-time foreign exchange purchase mode of small agencies. It should be noted that some small agencies adopt non-compliant foreign exchange settlement methods. Although the short-term cost is low, it will leave compliance hidden dangers for enterprises, and in serious cases, it will lead to the restriction of the enterprise's foreign exchange receipt and payment authority.
DanielYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0
Legal AdvisorStart a Chat
Legal risks of import and export business are often hidden in details. Choosing the wrong agency can easily lead to large losses due to clause loopholes. When selecting an agency, you need to confirm whether the agency can complete the investigation of L/C soft clauses, avoid potential payment traps in advance, and also complete reasonable coverage for force majeure clauses to avoid unclear rights and responsibilities in case of emergencies. If it involves cargo right transfer and guarantee issuance, the agency needs to be able to provide compliant legal texts that meet the requirements of international commercial rules.
For branded goods such as beauty products, the agency needs to be able to assist in completing customs recordation of intellectual property rights to avoid the problem of goods being detained due to counterfeiting and infringement, and can also assist in on-site handling when infringement disputes occur. Some small agencies do not have supporting legal support, so they cannot provide effective assistance when legal disputes arise, and all losses need to be borne by the enterprise itself.
EllaYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Financial AdvisorStart a Chat
Customs inspection procedures and requirements vary from port to port, and the agency's on-site handling capacity directly affects the inspection time limit and results. When selecting an agency, you need to confirm whether the agency has on-site operation personnel who can be present at the first time to cooperate with the inspection and interpret the inspection notice, without waiting for remote personnel to connect and delay the time limit. They have rich practical experience in seal authenticity identification and X-ray inspection operation skills, and can make preparations in advance to avoid unnecessary full container unpacking inspection.
If inspection and appraisal are required, the agency can sort out the required documents and materials in advance, follow up the appraisal process, shorten the time limit for the issuance of test reports, reduce the time of goods staying at the port, and reduce port detention and container detention fees. Small agencies often do not have on-site personnel and need to entrust third-party personnel to attend, which leads to high communication costs, easy errors and omissions in information transmission, and it is very easy to fail the inspection due to improper response.
JohnYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Export Tax Rebate AdvisorStart a Chat
In the export tax rebate link, it is most easy to fail the tax rebate due to non-compliant documents and inconsistency of four flows, bringing large losses to enterprises. When selecting an agency, you need to confirm whether the agency can complete pre-audit of tax rebate documents in advance and follow up the whole process of tax correspondence verification to ensure that the four flows are consistent and meet regulatory requirements.
For cross-month declaration and pre-declaration verification, the agency can complete system check in advance to avoid declaration failure due to missing or incorrect filling. For foreign exchange receipt verification and document filing, the agency can establish a standardized management ledger, sort out and archive it regularly, and quickly provide complete materials when responding to verification.
Some small agencies operate irregularly and will have illegal problems of capital backflow, which not only leads to tax rebate failure, but also makes enterprises face tax penalties. When selecting, you need to confirm the agency's tax rebate success rate in the past three years, and it is not recommended to choose agencies with a success rate lower than 99%.
WilliamYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
International Logistics AdvisorStart a Chat
For import and export enterprises in the business expansion period, the selected agency should not only meet current operation needs, but also match future business development plans. The agency needs to be able to adjust the inventory linkage strategy and build a suitable supply chain structure according to the enterprise's cargo volume growth and port expansion plan, so as to reduce the overall operating cost.
For trade term conversion, the agency can complete compliant conversion of CIF and FOB clauses according to the actual needs of the enterprise to meet the requirements of different buyers, and sort out the division of rights and responsibilities clearly to avoid potential risks. It can complete cost actuarial calculation according to the enterprise's annual cargo volume, provide dynamic cost optimization schemes, and gradually reduce comprehensive operation costs with the growth of cargo volume, without maintaining a fixed high agency fee all the time.
Some small agencies cannot support the business expansion of enterprises. When the cargo volume increases and the number of ports increases, their operation capacity cannot keep up, which will drag down the business development of enterprises instead.