Six things have to be true before a single box moves
None of them are fast to discover on your own, and they depend on each other — you cannot classify a product for customs before you know which agency regulates it, and you cannot appoint a broker before you know who the importer is. This is the order they actually go in.
Why the order matters
Most delays we see are not caused by difficulty. They are caused by doing step five before step two, discovering the product was never on the FDA track at all, and starting again. Working the sequence properly is most of the job.
- 1
Register the facility
FDA registers factories, not companies and not brands. Make a product at two plants and that is two registrations, each with its own identifier that has to match your business records exactly.
Your part: One guided form. About fifteen minutes. - 2
Find out which rules apply
Registration is not approval. Every product sits on one of eight regulatory pathways, and some leave the FDA food track entirely — meat goes to USDA, alcohol goes to TTB. Canned goods, seafood, juice and supplements each add their own requirements.
Your part: Tell us what it is. We work out what that means. - 3
Rebuild the label
A Japanese label cannot enter the United States as it is. Eight elements have to be right, including all nine U.S. major allergens and a nutrition panel in a prescribed format. Get one wrong and the shipment is refused for a typography problem.
Your part: Send your current label. We review it against every rule. - 4
Appoint a U.S. importer
Imported food needs a U.S.-based importer running a verification programme, holding hazard analyses and re-checking suppliers every three years. It is a legal position with real liability attached.
Your part: Sign one letter. KOEIGO takes the role. - 5
Set up the customs side
FDA decides whether the food may enter. U.S. Customs decides whether the shipment may. That second side needs an importer of record, a customs bond, and a licensed broker holding a signed power of attorney for the port your goods arrive at.
Your part: Nothing. We arrange it and hold the records. - 6
Classify every product for customs
Two codes per product: one sets the duty rate, one determines how the shipment is filed. Classification is the importer's legal responsibility, not the broker's — a well-formed code can still be the wrong code.
Your part: Product details you already have.
Then it is done
This is the part people dread, and it is genuinely the hard part — but it happens once. After it, shipping is a routine. The only things that come back are:
- A registration renewal every two years
- A supplier re-verification every three years
- A new classification when you add a new product
- A note from us when a facility detail changes
Already thinking about FDA registration?
Step one has a page of its own, with the full list of what a facility registration needs and how the application works.
This is our job, not yours
Every obligation on this page is one we already carry for the suppliers on our platform. Joining takes one conversation.