How Deep Is the Water in Imported Skincare Products? A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Changzhou Customs Declaration Agents

At 11 o'clock at night, Ms. Li's mobile phone screen was still on - the Chinese agency rights for a niche South Korean skincare brand had finally been negotiated. But when she saw the dense quarantine requirements on the customs declaration documents, she suddenly realized that getting the products to enter the Chinese market in compliance was even more difficult than obtaining the brand. Today, let's uncover the tricks of skincare product import customs declaration in Changzhou area.

According to the customs declaration data of Zhongshi Tong, in 2023, among the imported skincare products at Changzhou Port, 43.7% needed to submit supplementary materials for a second time. The common problems mainly concentrated on:

• The outer packaging lacks reserved positions for Chinese labels.
• The deviation between the ingredient list and the data in the record-filing system exceeds 5%.
• Prohibited words such as "treat" and "cure" appear in the efficacy claims.

Step 1: Qualification Preparation
When Mr. Zhang was acting as an agent for a luxury Japanese brand last year, he lost 200,000 yuan in demurrage fees due to missing the cosmetic record-filing certificate. The essential documents include:

• Original place of origin health certificate (requiring embassy authentication).
• Ingredient safety assessment report.
• Record-filing certificate for non-special use cosmetics.

Step 2: Quarantine Approval
The Changzhou Customs is particularly strict in the review of products containing animal and plant ingredients. A French brand took an extra 15 days to handle the quarantine permit because it contained 5% royal jelly extract. It is recommended to log in to the "Cosmetic Ingredient Directory Query System" in advance to verify the ingredients.

Step 3: On-site Inspection
The customs declarer of Zhongshi Tong reminds: The opened samples must be declared separately. Last year, a German brand was required to return the whole batch of goods because it gave away opened samples along with the boxes.

• Translation fees: Professional translation of cosmetic terms is about 300 yuan per page.
• Warehousing fees: The average daily cold chain warehousing fee at Changzhou Port is 80 yuan per cubic meter.
• Compliance modification fees: The packaging replacement cost may be as high as 20% of the goods value.

Ms. Wang's lesson is worth being vigilant about: The low-price agent she chose concealed that the product contained prohibited pigments, which eventually led to a total loss of 100,000 yuan in payment for goods. Suggestions:

• Check the customs clearance records of similar products of the agent company in the past three years.
• Require the provision of a complete risk contingency plan.
• Confirm that the service includes subsequent handling of label record-filing on behalf of the client.

When you finish reading this article, there may be another batch of imported skincare products detained at Changzhou Port due to customs declaration problems. Instead of scrambling to supplement materials in the customs hall, it is better to check now whether your product record-filing is complete. After all, no matter how good the skincare products are, it is all in vain if they cannot enter the Chinese market.