How to Get an FDA MayProceed Before Your Products Even Arrive

Most importers think the clock starts when their product hits the port. It doesn't. By the time a container is sitting on the dock, FDA has already decided how hard to look at it.

I spent my first years at the agency inside the Office of Import Operations conducting Entry Review at both the LAX Airport and Port of Long Beach. I've seen hundreds of thousands of lines of products. If you want to avoid a detention, the work happens before arrival, not after the hold notice shows up.

Prior Notice is a filter, not a formality

Every shipment of FDA-regulated food needs Prior Notice, and most brokers file it on autopilot. The problem is what's in it. A Prior Notice with a mismatched manufacturer, a wrong FDA product code, or a registration number that doesn't line up with the facility is an invitation to review. I watched entries get pulled because the product code said one thing and the invoice said another. Nobody was trying to cheat, but the FDA will flag it just the same.

Check that your product codes are accurate, your facility registrations are current, and the names on the Prior Notice match the names on every other document in the entry. It sounds basic. It's also the most common thing I see done wrong.

PREDICT is scoring you whether you know it or not

PREDICT is the screening system that assigns a risk score to every line of every entry. It pulls from your firm's history, the manufacturer's history, the country of origin, the commodity, and any past refusals or alerts tied to anyone in the chain. A clean history scores low and clears fast. A spotty one, or a brand-new importer with no track record, scores higher and gets a closer look.

You can't see your score, but you can shape it. Consistent, accurate filings build a record that works in your favor. A history of corrected errors, prior detentions, or entries tied to a manufacturer on an Import Alert works against you, sometimes for years. If you've inherited a supplier with baggage, you need to know that before you book the shipment.

Get ready for July 9

I'm running a free webinar on July 9, 2026 walking through exactly this: FDA Pre-arrival Screening - How FDA screens your shipment before it reaches the dock, and what data errors trigger a detention before it even arrives. It's the checklist I wish every importer or foreign exporter ran before booking a container.

If you're a domestic importer or foreign exporter of food or supplements and you've had entries held, or you just want to stop guessing why some clear and some don't, this is for you.

Click "Get in Touch" at the top of this page and I'll send over the registration information.