What Services Are Included in Import and Export Agency? A Full Guide to All Service Segments Across the Entire Full Link

A few years ago,Mr.Ji from Zhejiang contacted us.His factory ran self-operated export business,and assigned customs declaration,logistics and tax rebate services to different service providers separately.When he shipped goods to Japan,he forgot to apply for the RCEP Certificate of Origin,resulting in the loss of more than 100,000 RMB worth of tariff deductions.The subsequent document supplement also delayed the shipping schedule,which generated more than 30,000 RMB of demurrage fees.Many foreign trade practitioners still view import and export agencies merely as "qualification borrowing for customs declaration".In fact,the full-link agency covers far more services than that.

Classification of Core Import and Export Agency Businesses

Breakdown of Full-link Core Service Modules

Based on the whole process of foreign trade transactions,the business of import and export agencies can be divided into four core modules,each targeting the common pain points encountered by foreign trade practitioners:

• Qualification and Compliance Services: Provide qualification access for small factories and cross-border sellers without import and export operation rights to complete compliant declarations.In 2026,customs has increased the inspection intensity on mis-declaration of HS Code classification by 30%.Mis-classification will not only affect export tax rebate,but also lead to fines.We conduct pre-examination of classification in advance,with a stable accuracy rate of over 99%,to avoid compliance risks from the source.
• Document and Customs Clearance Services: Cover import and export customs declaration,inspection application,preparation of various Certificates of Origin (RCEP,GSP,FORM A,etc.),pre-examination of mandatory certification documents of destination countries,check the consistency between declaration elements and actual goods in advance to reduce the probability of customs inspection.Headquartered in Shanghai,Zhongshitong can cooperate with branch networks at all ports across the country to complete off-site declarations,so clients do not need to contact local service providers on their own.
• Foreign Exchange,Finance and Tax Services: Assist clients with foreign exchange collection and settlement.In 2026,global exchange rate fluctuations remain frequent.We send exchange rate fluctuation early warnings to clients in advance,and can assist in exchange rate locking to avoid large exchange losses during settlement.For export enterprises,we provide tax rebate advance financing service to help clients recycle capital in advance,instead of waiting for the whole tax rebate process to get the funds.
• Logistics and Destination Port Services: Coordinate global booking,trailer transportation and warehousing.Our destination port agency network covers all major trading countries around the world,which can monitor the latest tariff rates and trade policy changes of destination countries in real time,and prepare relevant documents in advance.For example,when the EU CBAM officially takes effect in 2026,we will help enterprises exporting to the EU prepare carbon emission declaration documents in advance,so as to avoid extra costs caused by customs clearance delays.

Practical Operation Risk Warning

I once met Mr.Ge,a supervisor from Shanghai Port,who chose a small low-price agency for import customs clearance.The agency only quoted its service fee at the beginning,but the document exchange fee after goods arrival was three times higher than the market price,and the inspection fee was also doubled.The total final cost was 20% higher than that of a formal agency.This is a common hidden fee trap in the industry: many small agencies attract clients with extremely low prices,and add extra charges at every subsequent link.

Compliance Red Line Reminder: In 2026,customs has increased the inspection frequency on declared prices.Some non-compliant agencies help clients under-declare prices to evade taxes.Once the inspection is triggered,the clients themselves will bear all consequences including fines and damage to corporate credit.When conducting price pre-examination,we compare the transaction prices of similar products in the customs database to ensure that the declared prices meet customs requirements,and we will never touch the compliance red line to reduce costs.

There is also export tax rebate risk.Many clients operate tax rebate on their own,but fail to get the tax rebate due to inconsistent document information or incomplete filing,and have to pay value-added tax as if the sales were domestic transactions.When processing tax rebate for clients,we pre-examine all documents in advance,and follow up information matching at every node.According to our 20-year practical operation data,our tax rebate success rate is close to 100%,with very few abnormal cases.

Last month,Ms.Shang from Dongguan contacted us.Her goods were exported from Qingdao to Germany.She previously cooperated with a local Qingdao agency,which missed the CBAM declaration,resulting in goods detention and tens of thousands of RMB of port demurrage fees.After we took over the case,our Shanghai headquarters pre-examined all documents in advance,our local Qingdao branch coordinated customs clearance,and completed the CBAM declaration ahead of schedule.We finished all procedures and shipped the goods within 3 days.The goods were cleared directly upon arrival without any extra costs.Leveraging the information advantage of Shanghai Port,Zhongshitong can coordinate all ports across China and connect with the global agency network.No matter which port your goods enter or exit from,we can conduct unified coordination and risk control,so you do not need to contact multiple service providers separately.

The core of selecting an import and export agency is to evaluate its risk control capability and practical operation experience,instead of only focusing on low prices.Many low prices are accompanied by hidden traps.Once compliance problems occur,the final loss will far exceed the saved agency fee.