US Import & Compliance: How Our Tongkat Ali Root Slices Legally Enter the US

Short Answer

Can Red Tongkat Ali root slices legally be shipped to the US? Yes. Dried Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia) falls under a USDA APHIS plant quarantine exemption category — no import permit or phytosanitary certificate is required. As a food product entering the US, each shipment still goes through FDA Prior Notice filing and is subject to customs inspection. This page explains what these two processes actually are — and aren't — along with real shipping timelines from Malaysia to the US.

Before ordering, some customers reasonably ask: “Can this actually be shipped to the US legally? Will it get held up at customs?” That’s a fair question — dried root material is subject to both agricultural quarantine and food regulations. Below is our actual documented process, backed by primary-source evidence, rather than a vague claim that we’ve been “approved by the US government.”

Layer One: USDA APHIS Plant Quarantine Exemption

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regulates plant product imports to prevent pests and disease from entering the country — this is separate from, and unrelated to, whether a product is safe to consume or has any health effect.

We contacted the APHIS Plant Products Permits unit directly and received the following official response:

“Dried Eurycoma longifolia should be admissible into the United States and a permit from the United States Department of Agriculture… should not be required. We should also not require a Phytosanitary certificate. All items must be free of pests, disease, soil, noxious weeds, and contaminants.”

— APHIS Plant Products Permits unit, email correspondence, August 2026

APHIS’s own public database (Commodity Import Requirements, under “Dried Products from the Sapindales Order”) also lists Eurycoma longifolia in the permit-exempt, phytosanitary-certificate-exempt category, alongside other Sapindales-order dried products such as lychee, longan, rambutan, and pistachio.

What This Exemption Does — and Doesn’t — Mean

What it means:

• Dried Tongkat Ali root slices, as a commodity category, do not require a separate USDA import permit;
• No phytosanitary certificate is required from the exporting country;
• This is a category-level administrative exemption, not batch-by-batch pre-approval.

What it does not mean:

• It is not a USDA or APHIS certification of product safety, composition, or health benefit;
• It does not automatically clear every shipment — cargo must still be free of pests, disease, soil, and contaminants, and remains subject to inspection and final admissibility determination by US Customs;
• It does not exempt shipments from other agencies’ requirements, such as the FDA’s.

Layer Two: FDA Prior Notice of Imported Food

Beyond plant quarantine, dried root slices entering the US as a food product also require filing under the FDA’s Prior Notice of Imported Food regulation — a submission made before the shipment arrives, identifying the commodity, quantity, carrier, and importer of record.

Every shipment we send to the US is filed through the FDA’s PNSI (Prior Notice System Interface). Below is an actual submission record (commodity: Eurycoma longifolia Root Slices, quantity: 500 grams, status: Added to Prior Notice).

This Is Not “FDA Approval” — An Important Distinction

This needs to be stated clearly: Prior Notice is an import declaration procedure, not a product review or approval. The FDA has explicit rules prohibiting food and dietary supplement companies from implying their products are “FDA approved” or “FDA certified” — drug approval and food/supplement notification are entirely different regulatory systems.

Completing Prior Notice filing means: this shipment fulfilled its declaration obligation under US food import law. It does not mean the FDA has evaluated or endorsed the safety, purity, or efficacy of this product.

Layer Three: Real Shipping and Customs Records

Rather than making a vague claim about “fast, reliable shipping,” here is an actual UPS tracking record (tracking number 1Z27JE760420017218) showing a real door-to-door transit of approximately 12 days:

About the “Additional Information Requested” Step

The tracking event “A Government Agency requires additional information” is a routine customs/agricultural inspection step — it does not indicate a problem with the shipment. We’re sharing this specific record, including the inspection hold, precisely because it demonstrates the compliance chain in practice: the APHIS exemption and FDA Prior Notice filing did their job, and the shipment cleared and arrived without incident.

Shipping Information for US Customers

• Ships from: Pahang / Shah Alam, Malaysia
• Carrier: UPS Worldwide Express Saver (air freight)
• Typical transit time: approximately 10–14 days, including customs clearance (may vary depending on inspection)
• Shipping cost: included in product price — no additional customs or clearance fees
• Checkout available for: United States, Malaysia, Singapore — Shop

Disclaimer

This product is a dried root product intended for brewing as tea and has not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Pregnant or breastfeeding individuals, and anyone with a medical condition or taking prescription medication, should consult a physician before use. The compliance information on this page was accurate as of the publication date; requirements may change based on updated US Customs, USDA, or FDA policy, and customers are encouraged to verify current regulations independently before purchase.

Further Reading

What We Test · How to Brew Tongkat Ali · Evidence Index · Shop