How Complicated Is the Import of Body Wash?

"Mr. Zhang recently purchased a batch of high-end body wash through overseas purchasing agents, and it got stuck at the customs for a whole month!" Have you ever heard such a story? With the rise of cross-border e-commerce, more and more consumers and merchants are starting to pay attention to imported personal care products. But do you know? A small bottle of body wash may experience a more complicated journey from overseas to domestic store shelves than you can imagine. Today, we will uncover those crucial steps in the customs declaration and import of body wash.

Unlike ordinary daily necessities, body wash, as a chemical product that comes into direct contact with the skin, is subject to multiple regulations by the Chinese Customs, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and Food and Drug Administration. According to the latest statistics, among the personal care products that were returned due to non-standard declarations in 2022, body wash accounted for as high as 37%.

• Ingredient Restrictions: Ingredients such as alcohol and salicylic acid require additional approvals.
• Label Requirements: The Chinese label must include nine elements such as the production date and ingredient list.
• Quarantine Certificate: Some plant extracts need to provide the original place of origin quarantine certificate.

Ms. Li once tried to declare a certain European organic brand on her own. As a result, due to not being aware of the new regulations regarding the "Cosmetic Hygiene License Approval Document", the entire batch of goods was stranded at the port, incurring high storage fees. Customs declaration experts from Zhongshitong pointed out that professional agents can provide:

• Pre-review product ingredients in advance to avoid the risks of prohibited and restricted ingredients.
• Reasonably classify HS codes (commonly such as 34013000) to save up to 60% of tariffs.
• Handle quality inspection reports, Chinese label filings and other documents in one stop.

During a certain random inspection, it was found that 30% of the declaration problems stemmed from the misunderstanding of "splitting large packages". The customs clearly stipulates that for commercial packages with an original packaging volume of more than 1L, even if they are repackaged into retail specifications, they will still be taxed as industrial products. And popular added ingredients such as lavender and tea tree essential oils often trigger the animal and plant quarantine process.

A more typical case is that a certain batch of Japanese hot spring body wash was required to be returned due to a 2% excess in pH value testing. This reminds us that: There are significant differences in product standards from different places of origin, and it is crucial to conduct compliance testing in advance.

The next time you see a dazzling array of imported body wash on the store shelves, you might as well think a bit more: Have these products completed all the compliance processes intact? True import compliance is not only about being "sellable", but also about ensuring ingredient safety, label standardization, and complete taxation.

If you are considering importing body wash, or have doubts about your existing supply chain, you might as well leave a message to share your confusion. Maybe the next successful case of avoiding millions of losses will start from this exchange.