Quick answers and how-tos

Getting started

What does Import Steward actually do?

We monitor three FDA public data feeds — the Import Refusal Report, active Import Alerts (Red/Yellow lists), and recent Inspection Classifications — and tell you when any of your foreign suppliers shows up on one of them. You see hits the moment they're detected on your dashboard, and you get a single consolidated digest email every Monday morning summarising what changed last week.

We do not represent FDA. We do not file paperwork on your behalf. We make publicly-available enforcement data easy to monitor, so you don't have to scrape three feeds yourself or pay an attorney to do it for you.

How do I sign up?

1. Go to app.importsteward.com/signup and create an account with your work email.
2. Verify your email by clicking the link we send.
3. Add your first supplier on the dashboard, either by typing a name or by pasting a spreadsheet.
4. Your dashboard will show any live matches against current FDA data within seconds.

The Free tier doesn't require a credit card. You can stay on Free for as long as you like — it tracks up to 5 suppliers and sends the same Monday digest as the paid plans.

What plans are available?

• Free — up to 5 suppliers, weekly Monday digest, no card required.
• Monitor — up to 25 suppliers. Founders pricing is $19/mo for the first 12 months (then $49/mo standard); locked for the first 100 paid subscribers.
• FSVP Pro — unlimited suppliers, audit-ready monthly PDF export, faster alerting. Founders pricing is $59/mo for the first 12 months (then $149/mo standard).

Managing your supplier roster

Adding a supplier

From your dashboard, click Manage suppliers → Add supplier. Type the supplier's name as it appears on your invoices, packing slips, or Prior Notice filings. The name is what we match against the names FDA publishes in the refusal feed, so accuracy here matters — typos and abbreviations reduce match quality.

You can also include the supplier's country and product category if you know them; we use those to disambiguate when FDA's feed has multiple firms with similar names.

Removing a supplier

Click the supplier's name on your roster, then Deactivate. Deactivated suppliers are soft-deleted — we keep the record so that if you re-add them later, your match history carries forward. You can reactivate a supplier from the same screen by toggling the deactivation flag.

How many suppliers can I track?

Free tier: 5. Monitor: 25. FSVP Pro: unlimited. The current count and your tier limit are displayed on the dashboard. If you hit the limit, you'll need to either deactivate an existing supplier or upgrade.

Bulk uploading suppliers from a spreadsheet

The fastest way to onboard is to upload a CSV. From the dashboard, click Upload a CSV. We accept standard comma-separated files exported from Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers, or any system that can save as CSV.

Required columns

At minimum we need a supplier name column. The column auto-detector looks for headers like supplier, name, shipper, vendor, or manufacturer. Optional columns we recognise: country, category, fei (FDA establishment ID), and notes.

Header row is required. If your file has data starting on row 1 with no headers, open it in Excel/Sheets first and add a header row — that takes 10 seconds and avoids a frustrating import.

What happens to duplicates?

We detect duplicate supplier names within your roster and skip them silently. If you upload the same CSV twice, the second upload won't create duplicates. We do not de-duplicate across users — your roster is private to your account.

Preview before commit

Every upload runs a preview pass first: you'll see exactly how many rows were detected, which ones we flagged as duplicates or missing required fields, and which columns the auto-detector mapped. Nothing is added to your roster until you click Confirm import.

Understanding alerts & data sources

Import Steward continuously monitors three FDA-published feeds. All three are public — you can verify any alert we surface against the original source at fda.gov.

Import Refusal Report (IRR)

FDA's monthly report of every entry line that was refused admission at a US port of entry. Refusals are the strongest signal — they mean FDA actually denied a shipment, not just flagged a risk. Refusals include a reason code (the "Refusal Charge") such as filthy, salmonella, mislabelled, or unsafe color additive. Our alerts include the charge so you can see the specific issue.

Source: accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/importrefusals. Updated monthly, usually within the first 10 days of the following month.

Import Alerts (Detention Without Physical Examination)

When FDA finds a recurring pattern of problems with a foreign firm, they add that firm to an Import Alert list. Listed firms are subject to detention without physical examination ("DWPE") — every subsequent shipment is held at the border until the importer can prove the listed problem doesn't apply. Being on a Red List effectively closes the US market to that firm's products until they get off the list.

We surface listings on both the Red List (DWPE applies) and the Yellow List (intensified surveillance — sampling but not automatic detention). Greenlists (firms exempted from DWPE) are not surfaced as alerts because they're a positive signal, not a warning.

Source: accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia. Updated continuously as FDA modifies the lists.

Inspection Classifications

FDA inspects foreign food facilities periodically and assigns one of three classifications: NAI (No Action Indicated), VAI (Voluntary Action Indicated), or OAI (Official Action Indicated). OAI is the worst — it means inspectors found objectionable conditions and FDA is taking enforcement action. VAI means inspectors found issues but the firm corrected them voluntarily. We alert on OAI and VAI; NAI is treated as positive and not surfaced.

Source: datadashboard.fda.gov/ora/cd/inspections. Updated weekly.

Why didn't I get an alert when I expected one?

Three common reasons:

1. The supplier name in our system doesn't match the name FDA published. FDA uses many variants — abbreviations, ownership changes, foreign-language spellings. Try adding name variants as separate suppliers, or contact us and we'll add a name-alias for your roster.
2. The data hasn't been published yet. Refusals lag actual events by 1-2 months. If a shipment was refused on the 28th, it may not appear in FDA's report until the following month.
3. The signal is below alert threshold. Single NAI (no action) inspections are not alerted, by design — they're positive. If you want stricter alerting (e.g., any inspection regardless of outcome), tell us and we'll wire it up.

The Monday weekly digest

Every Monday at 7:00 AM Eastern, we send one email summarising any changes to your supplier roster's status over the past week. If nothing changed, you get a one-line "no changes this week" note instead of nothing — so you know the system is running.

What's in it?

• A triage strip at the top: counts of new refusals, new alerts, and new inspection findings affecting your roster.
• One card per affected supplier, with the FDA badge, the specific charge or finding, the date, and a link to the source record on fda.gov.
• A summary footer with the digest date, your supplier count, and a link to manage your roster.

Can I change the send day or time?

Not yet, but it's planned. The current default is Monday 7 AM ET because that's when most importers are catching up on the week. Email support@importsteward.com if you'd prefer a different cadence and we'll keep track of demand.

What if I miss a digest?

All past digests are archived on your dashboard under Digest history (coming soon — for now, email support and we'll resend any past digest).

Account & billing

Changing your email or password

Go to Account settings. Email changes require you to verify the new address before they take effect (we send a verification link). Password changes are immediate.

Forgot your password?

Use Forgot password on the login page. We'll email you a reset link that's valid for 60 minutes. If you don't see the email, check your spam folder and search for "Import Steward".

Upgrading or downgrading

Stripe-managed checkout is going live shortly. Until it does, plan changes happen via email — write to support@importsteward.com and we'll handle it. Once Stripe is live, you'll manage your subscription yourself from the Account page.

Cancelling

Cancel anytime from your Account page once Stripe is live. Free tier accounts can be deleted from the Account page at any time; a deletion removes your roster and all match history permanently.

Refunds

We offer a 30-day no-questions-asked refund on the first month of any paid plan. After 30 days, refunds are pro-rated per remaining month. Email support to request a refund.

Privacy & data handling

What data do you collect?

The minimum needed to run the service: your email address (for login + digest delivery), a hashed password, your supplier roster (names, optional country/category/notes you provide), and basic session telemetry (login times, IP for security audit — IPs are deleted after 30 days).

Where is my data stored?

Application data is in a managed Postgres database hosted by Supabase in their US East region. Transactional email is sent via Postmark. Marketing site (importsteward.com) is hosted on Cloudflare. Error monitoring is via Sentry. We do not share your data with any other third parties.

Do you share my supplier roster?

No. Your roster is private to your account. We never sell or share roster data, in aggregate or otherwise. The only people who see your roster are you and (for support purposes) Import Steward staff — and even then, only when you ask us to look at something on your behalf.

Can I delete my account?

Yes, from Account settings → Danger zone. Deletion is immediate and permanent. We keep aggregated, fully anonymous metrics (e.g., "how many active accounts on Monitor tier") but nothing identifiable to you.

Troubleshooting

I'm not receiving the Monday digest

Check three things in order:

1. Spam folder. Postmark senders sometimes land there for the first email or two. Mark "not spam" and add digest@importsteward.com to your contacts.
2. Your supplier roster. If you have zero suppliers on your account, the digest is skipped automatically.
3. Your email address. Confirm it's still verified on the Account page. A failed-delivery hard bounce will suspend your address until you re-verify.

If none of these resolve it, email support and we'll dig in.

I see a match I think is wrong

Click the alert to see the source data. False positives happen when a supplier name we have on file matches an unrelated firm in the FDA feed — usually because the two firms have similar names. Click Report this match as wrong on the alert card and we'll add a name-disambiguation rule for your roster.

The dashboard is slow or blank

Try a hard refresh (Cmd-Shift-R on Mac, Ctrl-Shift-R on Windows/Linux). If it's still blank after that, check status.importsteward.com for any active incidents. Persistent issues — email support with a screenshot.

CSV upload failed or skipped rows

The most common cause is a missing header row or an unusual column name we didn't auto-detect. Confirm row 1 of your file contains column headers, and rename your supplier-name column to supplier or name if our auto-detector didn't pick it up. The upload preview will show exactly which rows were skipped and why.

Contact & support

Email support@importsteward.com for anything not covered above. Real human, usually responds within one business day. We don't do phone support — written records make it easier for both of us to refer back later.

For service status and any active incidents, check status.importsteward.com.

For privacy-specific or data-deletion requests, write to privacy@importsteward.com.