Practical Guide to Hefei Multimodal Transport Import Agency Covering Full-Link Services of Customs Clearance, Inspection and Logistics Delivery

Previously we contacted Mr.Shi,who is in charge of industrial parts import business in Hefei.At the end of 2025,his bulk cargo was shipped by sea to Shanghai then transferred to road delivery.Misalignment between the two service providers led to 7 days of port demurrage,incurring an extra demurrage fee of 21,000 RMB.In early 2026,he switched to the full-process sea-rail multimodal transport agency solution,where the full container is directly transported from Shanghai Port to Hefei North Railway Station for customs clearance,taking only 6 days in total,with overall cost 18% lower than before.As the western hub of the Yangtze River Delta,Hefei is gradually releasing the cost and time efficiency advantages of multimodal transport import,but cargo owners are very likely to encounter various risks if they connect multiple segments of service providers on their own.

Core Modes of Hefei Multimodal Transport Import and Cost Comparison

In 2026,Hefei has launched three mainstream multimodal transport import routes including sea-rail,road-rail and river-sea.Different modes have obvious differences in applicable cargo types,cost and time efficiency,and cargo owners can choose according to the attributes of their own goods:

The above costs exclude tariffs,value-added tax and special supervision document handling fees.In 2026,Hefei Customs District implements the priority inspection policy for goods under the "one single document" multimodal transport system,and the average release time of goods with complete documents is 40% faster than that of ordinary transit goods.

Mandatory Compliance Procedures for Hefei Multimodal Transport Import Agency

Multimodal transport import involves supervision of two or more ports,and the requirement for document consistency is far higher than that of ordinary direct import at a single port.The following compliance actions must be completed in advance:

• 7-day advance pre-inspection for commodity inspection: For general cargo,focus on verifying the consistency between declaration elements (brand,model,material,specification) and actual goods.For mechanical and electrical products,prepare China Inspection and Quarantine reports and automatic import licenses in advance.For animal and plant products,apply for entry animal and plant quarantine permits in advance.In 2026,Hefei Customs District implements the "pre-inspection at place of origin" mechanism,and the port inspection rate of goods that pass pre-inspection can be reduced by 60%.
• Accurate HS code classification: In 2026,the Yangtze River Delta customs districts implement mutual recognition of classification results.The classification specialists of our Shanghai headquarters will issue classification opinions in advance to avoid price verification delay caused by inconsistent code judgments of two customs districts.For goods involving anti-dumping duties,confirm the tax rate in advance to avoid late payment surcharge caused by underpaid taxes.
• Unified verification of multimodal transport documents: The consignor and consignee,cargo value,and commodity name on the sea bill of lading,railway waybill and manifest information must be completely consistent.For imports under EXW terms,verify the completeness of the overseas segment transport documents in advance to avoid being judged by customs as under-declaration or missing declaration.For goods imported from ASEAN under RCEP,the full set of transport documents must be provided to enjoy tariff reduction under the certificate of origin.
• Advance communication for price verification: For high-value goods and niche category goods,prepare original factory invoices,trade contracts and foreign exchange payment vouchers in advance.For goods with patent authorization or special processing technology,submit explanatory materials in advance to avoid extra tax expenditure caused by excessively high customs price verification results.

Common Risks of Hefei Multimodal Transport Import and Risk Avoidance Solutions

In the first quarter of 2026,we handled 17 abnormal Hefei multimodal transport import cases,80% of which resulted from cargo owners’ unfamiliarity with cross-regional supervision rules.Typical risk points are as follows:

Last year,we contacted Ms.Niu,who runs pre-packaged food import business in Hefei.She failed to declare the IPPC mark on wooden packaging in advance when adopting sea-rail multimodal transport.After the cargo arrived at Hefei North Railway Station,it was selected for inspection and detained for rectification for 4 days,incurring extra storage fee of 12,000 RMB.Three types of goods including wooden packaging,cold chain food,and animal and plant products must complete compliance verification before loading at the port of shipment,to avoid extra costs caused by rectification after arrival.

Another risk is the document exchange fee trap.Many cargo owners choose scattered service providers to handle Shanghai Port document exchange,Hefei customs clearance,and local delivery respectively,leading to separate charges for two document exchange procedures and miscellaneous fees,which makes hidden costs over 20% higher than estimated.For our full-process agency service,we only charge document exchange fee once,all fees are listed in detail in advance with no hidden charges.

In 2026,the fluctuation range of exchange rates has increased.If the overseas segment freight of multimodal transport is settled in foreign currency,it is recommended to lock the exchange rate 15 days in advance.We can provide synchronized foreign exchange settlement agency services to lock the exchange cost and avoid unexpected exchange loss.In addition,the space of Hefei China-Europe Railway Express is tight around the Spring Festival and National Day holidays,and the navigation efficiency of inland ports decreases by 30% during the dry season (November to February).Booking space 15 days in advance can avoid demurrage fee caused by space shortage.

Core Advantages of Cross-Regional Agency

Zhongshitong is headquartered in Shanghai,with the capability of off-site declaration at national ports and global agency network coordination.Cargo owners do not need to handle affairs in both Shanghai and Hefei,and we will uniformly complete all declaration,inspection and logistics connection work.In 2026,the overall import customs clearance time of Shanghai Port has been reduced to less than 30 hours.We can directly carry out advance declaration in Shanghai,and synchronize the multimodal transport manifest data to Hefei Customs District in advance,so as to realize "one declaration,one inspection,one release".The overall time efficiency is over 30% faster than cargo owners connecting service providers on their own.

If special categories such as dangerous chemicals and second-hand equipment are imported,we can coordinate Shanghai Port specialists to conduct compliance pre-judgment in advance,to avoid return shipment of goods that do not meet access requirements after dispatch,which will generate large round-trip logistics costs.All operations fully comply with customs supervision requirements,all risk control nodes are traceable,and cargo owners can query cargo status in real time.