What is?Export Agency?Fees? Why Must They Be Paid?

Export agency fees are service compensations paid by enterprises when entrusting professional?Foreign trade?companies to handle export procedures, includingdocument processing, customs declaration and inspection, tax rebate declarationand other core services. According to the 2025 International Trade Service Fee Guidelines, compliant agency services must correspond to clear fee items.

What Specific Items Are Included in 2025 Export Agency Fees?

Current agency service fees typically include:

• Basic service fee: customs declaration preparation, transport document review
• • Presentation of L/C documents: 800 - 1500 yuan per order
  • Agency for export tax rebate: 5% - 8% of the tax rebate amount
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  • ?Tax Refund?funding services (charged at 0.3%-0.8% of the funded amount)
  • special document certification (e.g., CO certification for Middle Eastern countries)
• risk management fees: trade compliance review, foreign exchange risk alerts

How Are Agency Fee Charging Standards Determined?

2025 mainstream fee models include:

• Charges based on percentage of cargo value: typically 0.5%-1.2% (lower for electronics, higher for chemicals)
• Tiered pricing: fixed fee for the first container + decreasing fees for additional containers
• annual service packages: suitable for enterprises with annual export volumes exceeding $5 million

According to 2024 General Administration of Customs statistics, average agency costs for small and medium-sized export enterprises account for approximately 0.8%-1.5% of cargo value.

What Factors Affect Agency Fee Levels?

• Product Characteristics: Dangerous goods are 30%-50% higher than general cargo
• Trade terms: EXW involves 15%-20% more operational workload than FOB
• Destination country requirements: Commodities requiring legal inspection incur 20%-30% additional costs
• Settlement Methods: LC transactions charge document review fees beyond TT payments

How to avoid hidden charges?

It is recommended to adopt"Three checks and two inquiries"Methods:

• Check if the service contract specifies fee details
• Review historical bills for abnormal expenditures
• Compare peer quotes against market averages
• Clarify foreign exchange settlement rate calculation methods
• Confirm charge standards for exceptional case handling

How will RCEP implementation in 2025 affect agency fees?

After the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement takes effect:

• ?Certificate of Origin?Self-service certificate applications reduce agency costs by 20%-30%
• ASEAN customs clearance acceleration decreases port demurrage expenses
• Recommended to select agencies withRCEP special servicesqualified agency companies

Self-operated export VS agency export: which is more cost-effective?

Cost comparison model calculation (taking annual export volume of $3 million as example):

• Self-operated export: Requires 2-3 person team with annual costs approximately $80,000-$120,000
• ?Agency Export?: Agency fees amount to about $24,000-$36,000

Companies with monthly export volumes below $150,000 should prioritize agency services

How to select reliable export agency companies?

Key evaluation dimensions should include:

• Compliance qualifications: Customs AEO certification, Class A foreign exchange management classification
• : Whether it supports direct connection and declaration with the Electronic Tax Bureau: ERP real-time data interoperability capability
• Emergency Handling: No major customs declaration error records in past three years
• Transparent fees: Provides detailed quotation templates