Kratom regulation briefing, September 2026: the AKA sues the DEA, North Dakota rejects a total ban

freshkratomthai

Sep 6

6 min read

Four things moved in the last two weeks that change the compliance picture for anyone importing kratom leaf or leaf-derived material. Two were in Washington, one in Bismarck and Boston, and one in Bangkok — and the Thai one is the change most overseas buyers have not seen. Here is the state of play as of 6 September 2026, written for people who buy at volume rather than by the packet.

The federal position, stated precisely

Precision matters here, because a lot of trade press is running the words together.

Scheduled. Three semi-synthetic compounds — mitragynine pseudoindoxyl (MGPI), MGM-15 and MGM-16 — became Schedule I controlled substances in the United States on 26 August 2026 under a DEA temporary scheduling order. The order runs two years, to 26 August 2028, with a possible one-year extension. It applies to any quantity. There is no threshold written into it and no stated exemption for trace amounts.

Not scheduled. 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) itself is still not a controlled substance. The DEA published a notice of intent on 6 July 2026 to place 7-OH into Schedule I above a specified threshold — the proposed line being more than 0.050% by dry weight, or more than 1.00 mg in a single article. That rule has not been finalised.

Live deadline. The Department of Health and Human Services extended the public comment period on that 7-OH threshold to 10 September 2026, under docket HHS-OASH-2026-0232 on regulations.gov. Comments go to the Attorney General. If your business depends on the number the United States settles on, this week is when you have a say in it. After that you are a price-taker on the threshold.

The AKA is suing the DEA — and the reason should concern every importer

On 27 August 2026 the American Kratom Association filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the DEA, Administrator Terrance C. Cole and the Department of Justice.

The problem is a gap between what officials said and what the order says. DOJ's public statement framed the action as targeting deliberately manufactured, concentrated opioid products rather than traditional botanical kratom. The scheduling order itself contains no such carve-out. MGPI occurs naturally in trace quantities in genuine Mitragyna speciosa leaf and can form through oxidation during storage and transport. Read literally, a container of ordinary leaf is a Schedule I controlled substance.

The AKA is asking the court either to declare that the order does not reach traditional botanical kratom containing only incidental trace MGPI, or to set that application aside and require a scientifically defensible standard.

Mac Haddow, the AKA's Senior Fellow on Public Policy, put the practical problem bluntly: "A press release cannot protect a consumer from a local arrest, a retailer from seizure of inventory." Federal enforcement discretion binds federal prosecutors. It does not bind a state trooper, a county DA, or a customs officer looking at your paperwork.

North Dakota: a total ban defeated, regulation passed the same day

On 4 September, North Dakota's House killed Senate Bill 2408, which would have banned kratom in every form and had already cleared the Senate 46–1. In its place the House passed an amended House Bill 1628 by 91–2, and Governor Kelly Armstrong signed it that day.

HB 1628 permits natural kratom for adults 21 and over while classifying synthetic derivatives as Schedule I. It requires retailer licensing, labelling standards, mandatory laboratory testing of product composition, and prohibits candy-like presentation. Implementation may take around six months, during which natural kratom is expected to be unavailable in the state.

Do not read this as a settled win. Armstrong said he got "90% of what we wanted" and signalled he may return with a total ban in the January 2027 regular session.

Massachusetts: the same argument, the opposite result

Massachusetts went the other way. An emergency order from Governor Maura Healey's administration and DPH Commissioner Robbie Goldstein temporarily classified all kratom products as Schedule I, effective 29 August 2026.

Four retailers filed suit in Suffolk County Superior Court on 23 August seeking a temporary restraining order, arguing the commissioner lacked the authority, that the record does not support an emergency finding, and that any action should have been aimed at concentrated synthetic derivatives rather than the whole botanical category. No ruling had been made public as of writing. Tennessee's statewide ban, meanwhile, has been in force since 1 July 2026.

The pattern across all three states is the same: the fight is no longer kratom, yes or no. It is natural leaf versus concentrated and chemically enhanced alkaloid products. Suppliers who can document which side of that line their material sits on keep market access. Suppliers who cannot, lose it — in both directions, because a bad actor in the category drags the honest ones into the ban.

Thailand: the origin-country change most buyers missed

While attention was on Washington, Thailand's FDA published the Criteria for Food Advertising B.E. 2569 in the Royal Gazette on 27 July 2026, effective the following day, replacing the 2021 notification. For kratom it means, in summary:

No advertising targeted at anyone under 18, or at pregnant or nursing women.
No claims that kratom helps a person work longer hours or reduces stress.
A mandatory warning against consumption for more than seven consecutive days.

It applies across packaging, websites, social media and point-of-sale material, regardless of channel. Operators and their overseas partners should read the notification itself before changing label copy.

Why an importer should care: much of the label and marketing language you inherit from a Thai supplier originates under the old 2021 rules. If your supplier's own materials still carry stress-relief or work-endurance claims, that tells you something about their compliance posture generally — and it may be language you are about to print on your own packaging.

Four things to put on your next purchase order

Specify 7-OH as a number, not an adjective. "Low 7-OH" is worthless in a dispute. 0.050% by dry weight and 1.00 mg per article are the figures the United States is converging on. Put a numerical maximum in the contract and require it on every certificate of analysis.
Add MGPI to the test panel. Most laboratories will not run it unless you ask. If the AKA loses its case, "we never tested for it" is an indefensible position for a container already on the water.
Buy documented, unadulterated material. Nothing enhanced, nothing fortified, nothing with a transformed alkaloid profile. A documented chain from farm to container is now a commercial asset, not paperwork.
Retain samples from every batch. Seizure disputes are resolved with retained samples and records, not assurances. Keep them, and keep them referenced to the CoA.

And one strategic point: with the AKA case unresolved and North Dakota's governor already talking about January 2027, this is a poor quarter in which to lock long-dated US supply contracts on fixed terms.

The trade opportunity inside all this

Read those four points from the other side of the table and the commercial picture is straightforward. Every serious buyer selling into the United States is about to re-specify their product against a number that most supply chains have never had to certify. Suppliers who cannot put that number on a document will be dropped. Suppliers who can will pick up the volume.

That opening is real, and it is narrow. It closes once the threshold is finalised and buyers have re-contracted.

Where we stand, and what we can offer

Fresh Kratom Thai grows and processes in Thailand, at facilities in Bang Len District, Nakhon Pathom Province and in Sisaket Province, on GMP-standard production equipment. Our material has been analysed by the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) for mitragynine content, along with vitamin, mineral and amino acid profiling.

What we offer qualified wholesale buyers:

Roasted ground leaf powder and standardised mitragynine extract — Thai-grown, processed under our own control from farm to container.
Batch-level documentation — TISTR analysis, facility and machinery records, and certificates of analysis referenced to retained samples.
A compliance sample pack. Tell us the threshold your market applies and we will send a batch sample with its documentation, so your own laboratory can verify our numbers before you commit to a container. We will tell you plainly what we can and cannot certify — that is worth more to you than a confident sales answer.
Long-term offtake, private label and territory discussions for buyers who want origin supply secured before the US rules land.

Contact us: freshkratomthai@gmail.com · +66 89 402 0034 · or use the enquiry form on this site. Tell us your market, your target volume and the specification you have to meet, and we will come back with what we can supply against it.

This is a summary of publicly reported regulatory developments for commercial information only. It is not legal advice. Regulation in this area is changing quickly and differs by jurisdiction — verify current requirements with qualified counsel in your own market before acting.