Is the import and export agency a highly profitable industry? Nanjing bosses are silent

When you place an order for imported skincare products on an e - commerce platform, or see the news that the container throughput of Nanjing Port has reached a new high, have you ever thought about the group of "invisible pushers" behind it? They are neither the owners of the goods nor the customs, yet they can make the goods cross borders smoothly - this is the Nanjing import and export agency industry. Today, we are going to uncover this low - key yet crucial service chain.

Mr. Zhang's medical device company tried to export to Southeast Asia for the first time last year. He originally thought that having all the documents ready would ensure smooth customs clearance, but got stuck in the product classification for two weeks. "Later, we found a professional agent and discovered that our equipment was applicable to the Class A tax - free policy." Similar cases are common in Nanjing. The core value of import and export agencies lies in:

• Policy decoder: More than 2,000 customs codes are adjusted every year, and agencies have full - time teams to keep track;
• Cost controller: Through the origin certification of free trade agreements, the tariffs of an electronics enterprise were reduced from 12% to 0;
• Risk firewall: Ms. Li's import of chemical raw materials avoided a demurrage fee of 2 million yuan because the agent pre - reviewed the MSDS document in advance.

There are over 400 import and export agencies in Nanjing. How to avoid pitfalls? A senior consultant from Zhongshitong suggests:

• Check qualifications: They must have the record form of international freight forwarders and the AEO certification of the customs;
• Look at cases: Require them to provide operation records of the same category of goods. For example, the regulatory requirements for medical devices and food are worlds apart;
• Compare services: High - quality agencies will be equipped with a full - process team for "document pre - review + logistics tracking + tax planning".

The intelligent customs clearance system launched by a Nanjing agency last year compressed the processing time per ticket from 48 hours to 90 minutes. Currently, the industry is experiencing:

• The penetration rate of electronic documents has reached 73%, but manual intervention is still required for cross - border payment verification;
• The accuracy rate of AI pre - classification has increased to 89%, but expert judgment is still needed for special commodities;
• Blockchain traceability has started to be applied to the import of cold - chain food, and Nanjing Port has piloted it.

You might as well take a quick test: If any of the following conditions are met, it is recommended to consider professional agencies:

• The annual import and export volume exceeds 5 million yuan;
• Involve trade with more than 3 countries/regions;
• The goods involve professional certifications such as FDA and CE.