MATSUMost guides to buying matcha from Japan stop at the loading dock. They cover grades, minimum orders, and Incoterms, and then wave you through customs as if the border were a formality. For a US buyer it is not — the United States runs its own food-import regime, and importing matcha into the USA means satisfying the FDA and US Customs on top of the ordinary work of choosing a supplier and a grade. This piece is the US-specific layer, written for the café owner, patisserie buyer, or small importer bringing matcha in for the first time.
We deliberately keep this separate from the general mechanics. If you have not yet worked out grades, minimum order quantities, and shipping terms, start with the broader guide to importing matcha from Japan and the detail on MOQ, lead time, and Incoterms; this article assumes that groundwork and focuses on what is different because the destination is the United States.
What does a US matcha import actually involve?
It helps to stop picturing a single "clearance" moment and instead see three tracks running at once, each owned by a different party. Get the ownership straight and the process stops feeling opaque.
- The FDA track — food-safety oversight. Prior Notice before the shipment lands, foreign facility registration behind the product, and the importer's FSVP records.
- The Customs track — CBP entry, HTS classification, duty, and release of the goods, almost always handled by a licensed customs broker on your behalf.
- The commercial track — your supplier, grade, order size, and shipping terms. MATSU sits here and hands the paperwork inputs to the first two tracks.
The single most useful thing a first-time importer can do is engage a licensed customs broker early. A broker files your entry, works the HTS classification, coordinates the FDA data, and flags anything your particular shipment needs. A supplier can tell you what is in the box and where it came from; a broker tells you how the US government wants that box declared. Nothing below replaces that conversation.
FDA: Prior Notice, facility registration, and FSVP
Matcha is a food, so the FDA — not just Customs — has an interest in it. Three requirements matter for most commercial imports, and it is worth knowing which are yours and which are the producer's.
Prior Notice
The FDA requires Prior Notice of a commercial food shipment before it arrives in the United States. In practice this is filed on the US side — most often by your customs broker or filer — using details of the product, quantities, the producing facility, and the arriving carrier. MATSU supplies those details for your consignment; the filing itself is the importer's or broker's responsibility. Miss it and a shipment can be held at the border, which is exactly the delay a café planning a menu launch cannot absorb.
Foreign facility registration
Facilities that manufacture or process food for the US market are generally required to hold a current FDA food facility registration and to designate a US agent. This one sits on the production side rather than with you, but a careful importer asks the supplier for the relevant registration details for their records. Because MATSU is producer-direct, that chain is short: we can point you to the documentation that applies to your shipment rather than sending you up a ladder of trading houses.
Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP)
Under the FSMA, the Foreign Supplier Verification Program puts responsibility on the US importer to verify that the food they bring in was produced consistently with US food-safety standards. For most food imports, tea included, an FSVP importer has to be named for the entry and keep records showing how the foreign supplier was evaluated. This is one of the quieter reasons buyers prefer a traceable supply chain — the easier the supplier is to identify and document, the lighter this obligation feels in practice.
Customs, HTS classification, and duty on tea
The Customs track is where the goods are formally entered and released. Your broker files an entry with US Customs and Border Protection, classifies the tea under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), and settles any duty owed. Matcha is a powdered green tea, so it falls within the tea headings — broadly HTS heading 0902 for green tea, with the exact subheading depending on how it is packed.
Historically, green tea has entered the United States free of duty under the general column-one rate. That is genuinely useful context — tea is not a high-tariff category the way many processed foods are — but treat it as a starting point, not a promise. The classification and the duty actually owed on your entry are a determination for your customs broker and CBP, and trade measures change over time. A responsible supplier will not quote you a duty figure as fact; a broker confirms it at the time of import.
- Classification is the broker's call. Small differences — packing size, blends, added ingredients — can move the subheading, so let the specialist classify rather than guessing from a website.
- Duty is verified, not assumed. Even where the headline rate is free, confirm it for your entry and factor in broker fees, port charges, and freight when you cost a landed price.
- Small parcels differ from commercial entries. Low-value shipments below the de minimis threshold clear differently from a full wholesale entry, which is one reason a sample kit is a low-friction first step.
Because MATSU quotes FOB Japan, the US entry, duty, and inland delivery are on the buyer's side of the line — the same division of responsibility explained in the MOQ, lead time, and Incoterms guide. That is standard for producer-direct trade and keeps your landed cost transparent, because you see freight and duty as their own line items rather than buried in an inflated per-kilo price.
Why shelf life is a US-import problem
Matcha does not spoil on a fixed date the way milk does — but it fades. Colour and flavour degrade with exposure to heat, light, oxygen, and moisture, and a long import journey is a slow accumulation of all four. Ground tea that leaves the mill vivid and grassy can arrive dull and flat if it spends months in transit and warehousing, and for a US importer buying across an ocean, that distance is the whole challenge.
Two levers help. The first is a short chain: the fewer stops between milling in Japan and your counter in the US, the less time the powder spends ageing in someone else's warehouse. The second is buying to turnover: order volumes you will actually use inside the freshness window rather than warehousing a year of stock to chase a lower unit price, then losing the colour you paid for. On arrival, the rules are simple and covered in full in our guide to storing matcha — keep it cold, sealed, dark, and dry, and open only what you will use.
A single producer-direct order from MATSU runs up to roughly 30 kg, which is deliberately sized to hold a busy café or pastry programme through a season on one fresh lot — big enough to matter, small enough to turn over before the green dulls.
What producer-direct changes for a US importer
For a US buyer specifically, producer-direct sourcing earns its keep in two places: the paperwork and the freshness. Because the powder comes from grower-level sourcing through MATSU — without the usual chain of trading houses, importers, and distributors — you can identify the producing region and facility for your FSVP records, the documentation trail is shorter, and the tea reaches you closer to when it was milled.
It is worth being precise about what producer-direct does not do. It does not remove your obligations as importer of record — Prior Notice, the customs entry, and FSVP verification still sit with you or your broker, and MATSU does not file US customs or FDA paperwork on your behalf or promise to "handle" your border clearance. What it does is make the supplier easy to name and document, and keep fewer hands and less time between the field and your shelf. For a café or patisserie that wants a clean, traceable line back to a specific grower, that is the difference that matters — and it is the same logic behind sourcing wholesale matcha for cafés directly rather than through a re-labelled distributor.
How MATSU ships to the USA
To make the division of labour concrete, here is what sits on each side of a MATSU shipment to a US buyer.
| Step | MATSU (supplier, FOB Japan) | You / your customs broker (importer of record) |
|---|---|---|
| Product & paperwork inputs | Provides product, quantity, and sourcing details; commercial invoice and packing list; relevant facility details on request | Uses them for Prior Notice, the entry, and FSVP records |
| FDA Prior Notice | Supplies the shipment data needed | Files Prior Notice before arrival (usually via broker) |
| Customs entry & duty | Not filed by MATSU | Broker classifies under HTS, files the CBP entry, settles duty |
| Freight & delivery | Hands goods over FOB Japan | Arranges international freight and US inland delivery |
None of this is a reason to hesitate — thousands of cafés import specialty ingredients this way, and a good broker makes the border routine. It is simply a map of where the responsibility sits, so nobody assumes the other party is handling a step. The best first move is almost always to bring in a small quantity, prove the grade in your own kitchen, and then scale the import once you know the colour and flavour survive the journey to your bench.
When you are ready for a wholesale order, request the professional catalogue for full specifications, milling method, and current pricing across all eight grades ($390–$1,050 per kilogram, FOB Japan). We reply within 24 hours and can walk through the paperwork inputs your broker will ask for — while being clear that the filings themselves are yours, and that this article is general information, not legal or customs advice.
Frequently asked questions
What do you need to import matcha into the USA?
At a high level, a US matcha import runs on three parallel tracks. First, the FDA layer: a commercial food shipment needs Prior Notice filed before it arrives, and the foreign facility that processes the food generally has to be registered with the FDA. Second, the customs layer: the goods clear US Customs and Border Protection through a formal entry, usually filed by a licensed customs broker, who classifies the tea under an HTS code and settles any duty. Third, the importer's own responsibility under the Foreign Supplier Verification Program to verify the supplier. MATSU ships FOB Japan and provides the details your filer needs, but the US entry, Prior Notice, and FSVP obligations sit with the importer of record. This is general information, not legal or customs advice.
Do you have to file FDA Prior Notice to import matcha?
For a commercial food shipment, yes — the FDA requires Prior Notice before the goods arrive in the United States, and the foreign facility that manufactures or processes the food generally needs a current FDA food facility registration with a designated US agent. In practice the Prior Notice is filed on the US side, most often by the importer or their customs broker, using shipment details such as the product, quantities, the producing facility, and the arriving carrier. MATSU supplies those details; the filing itself is the importer's or broker's responsibility. Small personal-quantity parcels are treated differently from commercial entries, so confirm which rules apply to your shipment. This is general guidance, not legal or customs advice.
What HTS code and duty apply to matcha imported into the USA?
Matcha is a powdered green tea and falls within the tea headings of the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule — broadly HTS heading 0902 for green tea, with the specific subheading depending on packing. Green tea has historically entered the United States free of duty under the general column-one rate, but classification and the duty actually owed are a determination for your customs broker and US Customs, not something a supplier should state as fact for your entry. Rates and trade measures change, so treat any duty figure as something to verify at the time of import rather than assume. This is general information, not customs advice; a licensed broker classifies your goods and confirms what is payable.
What is FSVP and does it apply when importing matcha?
The Foreign Supplier Verification Program is a US rule under the FSMA that puts responsibility on the US importer to verify that the food they bring in was produced in a way consistent with US food-safety standards. For most commercial food imports, including tea, an FSVP importer has to be named for the entry and keep records of how the foreign supplier was evaluated and verified. This is one practical reason buyers favour a traceable, producer-direct supply chain over anonymous bulk lots that pass through several trading houses: the shorter and clearer the chain, the easier the supplier is to identify and document. MATSU can provide the product and sourcing details your FSVP records call for. This is general information, not legal advice.
How does shelf life affect importing matcha into the USA?
Matcha is a fresh, ground product, and its colour and flavour fade with exposure to heat, light, oxygen, and moisture rather than spoiling suddenly. Over a long import journey that matters: transit time, warehouse handling, and how quickly you draw down stock all eat into the vivid green and clean flavour you are paying for. Producer-direct shipping shortens the chain and the time between milling and your counter, which is part of why it protects freshness. On arrival, store matcha cold, sealed, dark, and dry, and order in volumes you will turn over within the freshness window rather than warehousing a year of stock. A single producer-direct order runs up to roughly 30 kg, sized to hold a busy programme through a season on one fresh lot.
Is buying producer-direct better for a US importer?
For a US importer, the advantage of producer-direct is traceability and freshness. Because the powder comes from grower-level sourcing through MATSU rather than through a chain of trading houses, importers, and distributors, you can identify the producing region and facility for your FSVP records, the paperwork trail is shorter, and the tea reaches you closer to when it was milled. It does not remove your obligations as importer of record — Prior Notice, the customs entry, and FSVP verification still sit with you or your broker — but it makes the supplier easy to name and document, and keeps fewer hands and less time between the field and your shelf. This is general information, not legal or customs advice.