50.37 tons of "fireworks and firecrackers" concealed for export and seized
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What was declared was "melamine tableware", but after opening the box, almost all of it was fireworks.
October 21, Shenzhen Customs seized two consecutive cases of undeclared fireworks and firecrackers in the export freight channel, totaling 50.37 tons.
This case once again shows that the concealment of dangerous goods is no longer as simple as "detected with tax levy, fines, and return of shipments." Behind it is forming multiple consequences of customs criminal liability, high liquidated damages for shipping companies, and joint industry restraints.
Declared "melamine tableware", no declared goods were found in both containers.
According to Shenzhen Customs, when customs officers were conducting mechanical inspection on two containers of export goods declared as "melamine tableware" that day, they discovered that the machine inspection images of the containers were abnormal, which were highly similar to those of previous inspections of fireworks goods, and they were immediately transferred to on-site manual inspection. After unpacking, none of the declared goods appeared. The two containers contained 26.39 tons and 23.98 tons of undeclared fireworks and firecrackers respectively, totaling 50.37 tons.
Fireworks and firecrackers are legally inspected commodities and are also included in the Class 1 dangerous goods of the "List of Dangerous Goods". The state has strict regulations on the transportation and storage of fireworks and firecrackers. Exporting through concealed declaration, false declaration, hiding, etc. not only violates the obligation to declare truthfully, but also circumvents the safety requirements for transportation, loading, unloading, and storage of hazardous explosives. Once spontaneous combustion or explosion occurs at a port, ship or during transportation, the consequences will far exceed ordinary cargo damage.
The cost of underreporting is escalating
The Shenzhen case is not an isolated case. Previously, the Shanghai Railway Transport Court held a public hearing on the case of false reporting of exported fireworks and firecrackers seized by Yangshan Customs, a subsidiary of Shanghai Customs, and pronounced the verdict in court. The two principal offenders were sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison in the first instance for conspiring to purchase and transport fireworks and firecrackers, and falsely declaring a large amount of fireworks and firecrackers as general cargo for export, constituting the crime of endangering public safety in dangerous ways. The four accomplices were sentenced to 1 year, 4 months to 2 years in prison in the first instance for participating in transportation, container loading supervision, and other aspects.
The case originated from two containers seized by Shanghai Customs and local public security departments in the port area from August to September 2025, totaling approximately 38.51 million pieces of exported fireworks and firecrackers with false declarations. Shanghai Customs and the public security organs have established a "seizure-transfer-investigation" mechanism to optimize processes such as clue transfer and evidence fixation, and promote cases to enter judicial procedures. On the day of the court hearing, Shanghai Customs organized more than 20 people including representatives from the Customs Declaration Association and import and export enterprises to observe the case and carry out industry warning education by "explaining the law through cases".
Shanghai Port is my country's main export port for fireworks and firecrackers. In the first half of this year, the value of fireworks and firecrackers exported through Shanghai ports reached 3.14 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 90% of the total export value of similar goods nationwide. Fireworks and firecrackers are high-risk flammable and explosive goods, and false export declarations can easily lead to major safety accidents and seriously endanger public safety at ports. The customs reminded that industry entities such as foreign trade companies, logistics warehousing and freight forwarders should strictly abide by the "Regulations on the Safety Management of Fireworks and Firecrackers" and other laws and regulations, handle the storage, transportation and customs declaration procedures of hazardous explosives in accordance with the regulations, and do not be tempted by illegal profits to take risks.
Wanhai’s liquidated damages for a single container are up to USD 100,000
In addition to customs criminal prosecution, shipping companies are also increasing the cost of violation. On October 9, Wanhai Shipping issued a notice through its designated agent, Shanghai Lianjun International Shipping Agency Co., Ltd., once again emphasizing compliance requirements for cargo declaration. Regarding the concealment, omission and misreporting of dangerous goods and non-dangerous goods, Wan Hai made it clear that the liquidated damages for a single container could be up to US$100,000, and reserved the right to recover all losses and pursue relevant legal liabilities.
According to the notice, Dangerous goods must truthfully provide the dangerous goods category, UN number, detailed product name, dangerous goods declaration and packaging certificate; once it is discovered that the declaration is concealed, omitted, or the declared content is inconsistent with the actual goods, the responsible party must pay liquidated damages of US$100,000 per box and pay it within 7 days after receiving the notification. Even if the goods are not dangerous goods, if there is concealment, omission or misstatement, you must still pay liquidated damages of US$100,000 per box and bear all the resulting risks, liabilities, losses and compensation expenses.
In addition, for goods that are found to be concealed, omitted or misdeclared, the responsible party must also pay a deposit of US$100,000 per box to be used for possible subsequent box damage, overdue detention fees, terminal fees, customs processing fees and safety accident losses, etc. The notice specifically pointed out that overdue fees involving concealed reporting will be calculated at three times; if the deposit is insufficient to cover related expenses and losses, the responsible party must make up the difference.
Violators may face denial of bookings
What deserves more attention is that the consequences of concealing dangerous goods are extending from the contractual constraints of a single shipping company to joint constraints at the industry level. On September 30, six domestic trade container shipping companies, Shanghai Pan Asia Shipping, Quanzhou Antong Logistics, Tradewind (Ningbo) Shipping, Shanghai Zhonggu Logistics, Tangshan Port Hede Shipping, and Ningbo Ocean Ocean, jointly issued an announcement to clearly resist the concealment, false reporting and illegal entrainment of dangerous goods. Responsible entities that are confirmed to have violations will be notified by the industry and included in the industry information sharing mechanism for companies that conceal dangerous goods. Relevant companies can suspend or refuse to accept their bookings based on risk assessment until rectification is completed and verification is passed.
This means that once the concealment of information is verified, it may not only affect a certain shipment of goods or the cooperation of a certain shipping company, but also the booking credit of freight forwarders and shippers in the industry. For freight forwarding companies that rely on multi-shipping companies and multi-route operations, the deterrent power of this industry-wide restriction should not be underestimated.
Freight forwarding and export companies need to recalculate "concealed costs"
From Shenzhen Customs’ seizure of 50.37 tons of undeclared fireworks and firecrackers, to six people involved in the case in Shanghai being sentenced to real sentences, to Wan Hai’s liquidated damages of US$100,000 for a single box and the joint announcement by six domestic trade shipping companies, the cost of illegally concealing dangerous goods has formed a combination of “Customs criminal liability + shipping companies’ high liquidated damages + industry booking restrictions”. For freight forwarding and export companies, the following aspects need to be checked:
To confirm the actual attributes of the goods, you cannot judge based solely on the product name provided by the customer. Whether fireworks, firecrackers, lithium batteries, hazardous chemicals and other goods are legally inspected goods or dangerous goods must be comprehensively determined based on product composition, packaging and transportation requirements.
Verify whether the declared information is consistent with the actual object. The product name, HS code, packaging, quantity, dangerous goods category, UN number and other information must be consistent with the actual goods. If fireworks are declared in the name of general goods such as "melamine tableware", once they are seized by machine inspection or unpacking, the consequences will be far beyond paying taxes or changing orders.
Pay attention to the shipping company’s shipping policies and contract terms. Wanhai Notice has clarified the standards for liquidated damages, deposits and overdue fees. Freight forwarders should take potential compliance costs into consideration when accepting orders and quoting prices, and specify in the contract how to bear new costs and legal liabilities.
Keep business communication and audit records. Necessary audit and confirmation traces should be retained for the product names, cargo descriptions and declaration materials provided by customers to prove that they have fulfilled their reasonable review obligations.
There is no "room for luck" in concealing dangerous goods. The investigation of 50.37 tons of fireworks and firecrackers in Shenzhen, six people in Shanghai being sentenced to real sentences, Wan Hai’s liquidated damages of US$100,000 for a single box, and the industry information sharing mechanism are working together to reduce the space for gray operations. For freight forwarders and export companies, compliance declaration is not only a requirement to avoid penalties, but also the basis for maintaining booking qualifications and long-term operations.
