由 caicai8478 In today’s increasingly interconnected world, the ability of a Chilean cherry or a piece of Norwegian salmon to reach consumers thousands of miles away in their freshest form relies on a highly sophisticated, time-sensitive cross-border cold chain system. However, this chain is intricately linked, fraught with hidden risks. Temperature control failures, customs delays, document errors… any oversight at any stage can render an entire shipment worthless and cause severe damage to business reputation.
To ensure the safe and efficient journey of fresh food across borders, businesses must move beyond simple “transportation” thinking and build a comprehensive compliance solution covering both “customs quarantine” and “multimodal transport.”
I. The Starting Point of the Lifeline: A Deep Understanding of the “Hard Constraints” of Customs and Quarantine
Cross-border trade in fresh food is first and foremost a cross-border legal process. Compliance is a cost, but more importantly, it’s a guarantee.
- Market Access Qualifications: Confirmation of the “Access List” is a Prerequisite
Company Registration: Domestic and international exporters and importers must complete registration with customs and obtain the corresponding qualifications.
Product Access: Confirm whether the exporting country and specific product categories (such as beef, fruit, and aquatic products) are included in the “Catalogue of Foods Imported from Countries or Regions Meeting Assessment and Review Requirements.” This is the first hurdle to overcome in determining whether a project can commence.
Factory/Base Registration: Overseas production and processing enterprises must obtain registration qualifications from the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) and possess a registration number in China.
- Document Preparation: Building an Impeccable “Document Chain”
Fresh produce customs clearance is a classic example of “documents are king”; any flaws can lead to inspection, detention, or even return of goods.
Core Document List:
Official Sanitary/Phytosanitary Certificate: Issued by the official agency of the exporting country, proving the product’s safety and hygiene.
Certificate of Origin: Related to tariff rates and market access qualifications.
Import Permit for Animals and Plants: Requires advance processing for some high-risk products.
Contracts, invoices, packing lists, and bills of lading: Basic information must strictly match the actual goods and other documents.
Key point: All document information must form a closed loop, mutually verifying each other to achieve “document-to-document consistency” and “document-to-goods consistency.”
- Quarantine and Customs Clearance: Facing the “last mile” challenge
Pre-declaration and reporting: Fully utilize the “advance declaration” model, completing document review before goods arrive at the port, reducing customs clearance time.
Joint inspection: Customs and market supervision departments may conduct joint inspections to verify cargo quality, labels, pests, etc.
Laboratory testing: Sampling and testing are conducted according to control instructions to test for pesticide residues, veterinary drug residues, microorganisms, etc. This step is time-consuming and requires advance inventory planning.
II. The Cornerstone of the Physical Chain: Building a Seamless “Multimodal Transport Cold Chain”
If compliance is the passport, then a stable and efficient multimodal transport cold chain is the ark that carries value.
- Precise Temperature Control: From “Cold Chain” to “Fresh Chain”
Refined Management: Different fresh products have extremely stringent temperature requirements. Tuna requires -60℃, frozen meat requires -18℃, while some fruits and vegetables require 0-4℃. A “one product, one policy” temperature control plan must be established.
Seamless Supply Chain: From pre-cooling at the production site, port cold storage, refrigerated containers for sea/air freight, refrigerated trucks upon arrival at the port, to the final warehouse, a seamless “door-to-door” temperature connection must be achieved. A break in the chain at any stage means irreversible damage to quality.
- Multimodal Transport Collaboration: Optimizing the Balance Between Cost and Timeliness
“Air Freight + Trucking”: Suitable for extremely high-value goods with extremely sensitive timeliness (such as live seafood and high-end berries). Pursues ultimate speed, but is costly.
“Sea Freight + Trucking”: Suitable for large-volume goods with relatively low value (such as frozen meat and bulk fruits). While offering significant cost advantages, it demands extremely high standards for end-to-end cold chain management and time planning.
Key Node: Port cold storage facilities are the core hubs of intermodal transport; their operational efficiency and inventory turnover capacity directly determine the smoothness of the entire supply chain. It is essential to select port cold storage partners with high standards and information-based management capabilities.
- Technology-Enabled Visualization: From “Black Box” to “Transparent”
IoT Device Application: Deploying temperature and humidity sensors within containers and packaging boxes enables end-to-end, real-time, and traceable temperature monitoring.
Logistics Visualization Platform: By integrating multi-dimensional data such as location, temperature, and customs declaration status, the platform allows managers to gain real-time insights into cargo status and provide early warnings and rapid intervention for anomalies (such as excessive temperature or delays).
III. End-to-End Integration: Creating an Integrated Solution for “Compliance” and “Operations”
The true core competitiveness lies in deeply embedding customs and quarantine compliance requirements into the physical operations of multimodal transport.
- Information Flow First: Breaking Down Data Silos
During the booking stage, product HS codes, quarantine requirements, and other information are synchronized with the logistics and customs teams to facilitate advance planning of optimal customs clearance and transportation routes.
Key documents such as official certificates and test reports issued overseas are pre-transmitted electronically for early review by domestic customs.
- Contingency Plans and Risk Management
Develop delay contingency plans: Alternative transportation routes and emergency response plans are developed for common scenarios such as port congestion, flight cancellations, and severe weather.
Insurance Strategy: Specialized cold chain cargo insurance is purchased to cover cargo damage risks caused by uncontrolled temperature fluctuations, customs clearance disruptions, etc.
- Partner Selection and Management
When selecting partners, price should not be the sole consideration; a comprehensive evaluation should be conducted on their:
Compliance Operation Capabilities: Understanding and experience in implementing customs and quarantine policies.
Cold Chain Infrastructure: Whether they possess stable and reliable cold storage facilities and refrigerated transport fleets.
Multimodal Transport Network: The ability and resources to coordinate different modes of transport.
Information Technology Level: Does the company provide transparent and reliable data monitoring and feedback?
Conclusion: Cross-border cold chain logistics for fresh food is an extreme challenge involving time, temperature, and regulations. Enterprises are no longer merely “shippers,” but rather the “general coordinators” of a complex supply chain. The key to success lies in building a comprehensive solution that deeply integrates front-end customs and quarantine compliance with back-end multimodal transport operations. This requires enterprises to possess a macro-level regulatory perspective, micro-level process control capabilities, and the ability to leverage technology and data to achieve end-to-end visualization and intelligent management.
Only in this way can the distance across mountains and seas be compressed into a stable, safe, and fresh experience, building an impregnable “cold chain Great Wall” in the fierce competition of the global fresh food market.