Groundnuts export requirements for United States
The compliance checklist for exporting groundnuts from West Africa to United States — 6 requirements across 2 categories. Market risk: Medium.
Last reviewed 4 November 2026 · verify against official sources before shipment.
What you need for United States
US FDA Requirements
A foreign facility that manufactures, processes, packs or holds food for US consumption must be registered with FDA. Registration is renewed every two years between 1 October and 31 December of even-numbered years; FDA treats a registration not renewed by 31 December 2026 as expired. There is no fee.
FDA may treat peanuts and peanut products with total aflatoxins above 20 µg/kg (ppb) as adulterated (CPG Sec. 570.375), except raw peanuts that will be processed to remove mouldy and defective nuts. Import refusal of processed peanut products rests on original and check analyses above 20 ppb.
Food imported into the US needs a Prior Notice submitted to FDA and confirmed before arrival: at least 2 hours ahead by road, 4 hours by rail or air and 8 hours by water. It can be filed through CBP's ABI/ACS or FDA's Prior Notice System Interface, by anyone with the required information.
The US importer (the US owner or consignee) must run a Foreign Supplier Verification Program: analyse the hazards of each food, evaluate and approve the supplier, and verify it. For a Ghanaian exporter this arrives as buyer questionnaires, document requests and audits.
Destination Market Access
Under 7 CFR Part 996, imported shelled peanuts for human consumption must be positive-lot identified, analysed by a USDA or USDA-approved laboratory and certified "negative" for aflatoxin (15 ppb or less), and certified as meeting the quality standards. Before arrival the importer notifies CBP electronically of the lots and where they will be available for USDA sampling.
US peanut imports are under a tariff-rate quota (HTSUS Chapter 12, Additional U.S. Note 2) running 1 April to 31 March. Ghana has no country allocation and falls in the "other countries or areas" pool of 9,005 t. In-quota duty is 9.35¢/kg in shell and 6.6¢/kg shelled; over-quota duty is 163.8% in shell and 131.8% shelled. In-shell peanuts count at 75 kg per 100 kg against the quota.
Groundnuts → United States questions
Do I need a fda food facility registration (renewed every two years) to export groundnuts to United States?
Yes — FDA food facility registration (renewed every two years) is one of the required items for the Groundnuts → United States lane. This page lists the full checklist, and you can check your own status free.
Is groundnuts to United States covered by EUDR?
This lane is not primarily driven by EUDR; its requirements are mainly phytosanitary, food-safety and market-access documents. See the full list above.
How long does it take to become compliant for groundnuts → United States?
Individual items range from a few days to a few weeks; the longest single item here is an estimated 0 days, so start well ahead of your shipment.
Score your Groundnuts → United States readiness
Run the free checker against this list and see exactly where you stand.