What qualifications do foreign trade agencies need?

According to the 2025 Implementation Rules of the Foreign Trade Law, compliant foreign trade agency companies must meet the following requirements:

• Basic Qualifications
  • Effective Import and Export Operating Rights (Marine Registration Certificate)
  • Qualifications for receipt of foreign exchange records by the Foreign Exchange Administration
  • Electronic port operator IC card
• Professional certification
  • ISO28000 Supply Chain Security Management Certification (Essential for Cross-border Logistics)
  • AEO Customs Advanced Certified Enterprise Qualification (Fast Customs Credentials)

Request the Agency to provideCustoms credit rating record for the past3 yearPriority should be given to enterprises with a credit rating of Class A or above. A daily necessities export company once chose an agency without AEO qualification, resulting in a full container of goods being detained at EU customs for 28 days, incurring an additional storage fee of 120,000 yuan.

What core documents must be submitted to the export commissioner?

The basic certificate includes:

• Proforma Invoice
• Purchase contract (needs to be covered by both parties)
• Luggage sheet (net weight, volume accuracy to small number points after two)
• Agreement (clear division of responsibilities)

Special certificate requirements:

• Chemicals: MSDS Safety Data Sheet + Dangerous Goods Transportation Identification Report
• Food Category: Health certificate + certificate of origin
• Electronics: CE/FCC certification documents (Note: EUs new energy label regulations effective 2025)

What items are included in the agent export expenses?

Typical cost structure (example of EXW offer conversion to FOB):

• Basic Service CostsValue of goods0.8%-1.5% (including customs declarations, invoices, invoices)
• Processing fees:200-800 Dollars / Tickets (origin card / embassy certificate, etc.)
• Other expenses:
  • Bank handling fee: 0.1% of the received amount
  • Check service fee:500 (if customs check)
  • Logistics Supplementary Fee: Season Guarantee Fee etc.

A mechanical accessory export case showed that the agency that chose the full price model saves17% of the aggregate cost compared to the split offer, but pay attention to whether the contract includes emergency event handling terms.

How to prevent legal risks in agency exports?

Three risks that need to be addressed:

• Risk of goodsA tripartite agreement must be signed to clarify the "control of the bill of lading."
• Tax risksEnsure that the agency provides VAT special invoices in time
• Risk of complianceVerify whether the products are subject to export controls (such as the 3 new categories of semiconductor materials added in 2025)

Request the agency to purchaseOccupational liability insuranceIt is recommended that the insured amount be no less than 2 million yuan. A textile exporter was required to pay 430,000 yuan in back taxes due to an HS code error caused by an operational mistake by the agent. Since the agency company had purchased liability insurance, the exporter ultimately received an insurance payout.

Five isExport tax refundHow to operate more efficiently?

2025 Key points of the tax return policy:

• Tax refund cycle: enterprise category5 arrived within working days
• Document Archiving: Electronic archiving replaces paper documents (must comply with State Taxation Administration Announcement No. 3 of 2025)
• Cross-provincial cooperation: Mutual recognition of trial tax refunds in the Long Triangle

It is recommended to choose those withExport tax refundPayment of servicesThe agency company can obtain 80% of the tax refund in advance. However, attention should be paid to the calculation method of the advance interest, with the common market rate being 0.03% per day of the advanced amount.

How to assess the professional competence of the agency?

Four key assessment dimensions:

• Industry Case: Have experience of exporting similar products
• Emergency handling: whether there are overseas clearance crisis handling cases
• System coupling: whether an ERP data interface is available
• Service Network: Whether the destination country has cooperative clearance agents

Agents may be asked to provideCustoms accuracy statistics for the last6 monthA good quality agent should maintain a declaration accuracy of98% or more. A company successfully reduced the customs declaration error of82% by comparing the historical error rate data of three agencies.

VII. How is the time cycle for commissioned agent exports calculated?

Standard process time nodes (for example, sea exports):

• Single certificate preparation:1-3 working days (required extension with special certification)
• Customs release line: 0.5-1 working days (AEO enterprises can be shortened to2 hours)
• Tax Refund Declaration: Within 3 working days after receiving foreign exchange

A case involving an urgent order demonstrated that by adopting the "pre-declaration + guaranteed release" model, a professional agency company managed to compress the entire export process to 72 hours, saving 4 days compared to conventional operations.

What common cognitive misconceptions should be avoided?

• Misconception 1"The lower the agency fee, the better" (low prices may imply risk transfer).
• Misconception 2"Under FOB terms, no need to worry about destination port charges" (still at risk of high demurrage fees)
• Misconception 3"Electronic data can replace paper backups" (the statutory retention period remains 5 years)

Recommended quarterly meetings with agenciesRe-operation meetingsAn electronic enterprise, by establishing an agent service rating system, improves the timing of order processing by35%.