What types of enterprises require food commodity inspection agency services?

According to the new 2025 edition of the "import and export"Food Safety Management Measures," the following three types of enterprises must entrust inspection and quarantine agents:

• Food production enterprises exporting for the first time
• Export high-risk foods (dairy products/infant formula/foods for special medical purposes)
• Small and medium-sized enterprises without a well-established quality and safety management system.

Taking a frozen food company served by our company as an example, due to the lack of an HACCP certification system, it successfully completed the export inspection to Japan after supplementing quality documents through an agency.

How to Choose a Reliable Commodity Inspection Agency?

3. How to Identify High-quality Agency Service Providers?

• Officially Certified:
  • Enterprises with AEO advanced certification by the customs
  • Customs Inspection and Quarantine Agency Filing for Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine
• Industry experience:
  • At least 3 years of experience in food commodity inspection operations.
  • There are successful cases in the same category (e.g., frozen food/canned food/seasonings).
• Service capabilities:
  • Provide a full-process visual tracking system.
  • Equipped with a team of professional food inspectors

What specific services does commodity inspection agency include?

Professional agencies should provide four core services:

• Pre-audit service: Advance review of enterprise production records and test reports.
• Document Preparation: Compile bilingual (Chinese-English) health certificates and inspection reports.
• On-site coordination: Accompany customs officers during on-site inspections (new video inspection method to be added in 2025).
• Emergency handling: Develop a rectification plan for non-conforming products.

Please note that since the implementation of Announcement No. 102 of the General Administration of Customs in 2023, compliance review of food packaging for export has become a mandatory inspection item.

What is the complete process for commodity inspection agency?

• Preparation phase (3-5 days)
  • Sign a tripartite service agreement
  • Collect corporate qualification documents (SC Certificate/Export Filing Certificate).
• Declaration phase (2 days)
  • Enter data through the Single Window for International Trade.
  • Upload the electronic version of the test report
• Inspection phase (1-3 days)
  • Cooperate with customs sampling inspection
  • Handling Abnormal Laboratory Test Situations

How is the commodity inspection agency fee calculated?

The industry charging standards in 2025 mainly include:

• Basic service fee: 800-2000 RMB/batch (depending on product risk level)
• Testing Surcharge: Charged based on actual laboratory testing items.
• Express Processing Fee: An additional 30% service fee will be charged if certification is required within 48 hours.

An export case of a certain condiment shows that the total cost of routine commodity inspection is approximately 3,500 yuan, with microbiological testing accounting for 60% of the cost.

What are the common reasons for failing commodity inspection?

According to the statistical data of our company in the first half of 2025, the main issues are concentrated in:

• Labels do not meet the requirements of the importing country (accounting for 38%).
• Excessive additives (especially the use of preservatives)
• Abnormal microbial indicators (commonly found in cases of thawing and refreezing frozen foods)

It is recommended that enterprises confirm the latest regulations of the target country with the agency before production. For example, the new EU regulation (EU) 2025/347 on food contact materials has come into effect this March.