Kratom and the DEA's October 14, 2026 7-OH Threshold Notice: What to Test, Pull, and Document Before the Temporary Order Can Publish

In short

The October 14, 2026 Federal Register document is a notice of intent, not a temporary scheduling order. DEA said the order will publish on or after November 13, 2026 and take effect the day it publishes.

Two independent tests decide whether a product crosses into Schedule I:

• More than 1 mg per gram of 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) or mitragynine pseudoindoxyl (MP) - or more than 1 mg per mL in liquids, or
• A mitragynine-to-7-OH/MP mass ratio under 100.

Both are triggers. A product under 1 mg/g can still be caught by the ratio.

For anyone weighing a kratom 7-OH DEA scheduling merchant account decision, this is a documentation problem before it is an underwriting problem. Plain leaf and mitragynine are not proposed for control. Products marketed as 7-OH or MP are. What an underwriter can actually read is your catalog and your lot-level COAs - mitragynine, 7-OH, and MP on the same report.

What the October 14, 2026 notice actually changed

Start with what it is. The document runs at 91 FR 65370 under Docket No. DEA-1570, and its action line reads "Proposed amendment; notice of intent." That label matters. It is DEA giving the 30-day notice required by 21 U.S.C. 811(h) before it issues a temporary scheduling order. There is no notice-and-comment period here - DEA says the Administrative Procedure Act's comment requirements don't apply to temporary scheduling, and it also found good cause to skip them.

Three things changed on October 14, 2026.

It replaced the July 6, 2026 notice, and withdrew it in the same issue. The earlier notice (91 FR 40917, FR Doc 2026-13580) would have scheduled 7-OH alone above a very different line: more than 0.050 percent on a dry weight basis for botanical kratom material, and more than 0.050 percent by weight or more than 1.00 mg per article for processed articles. DEA said that order would not issue before August 5, 2026. It didn't. The October 14 document withdraws that notice and starts over on a new threshold.

The threshold now covers 7-OH and MP together. HHS sent a letter dated October 8, 2026 recommending a single threshold for both substances, applied to either one alone or to their combined amount when both are present. DEA built the notice on that letter. The proposed regulatory text adds 21 CFR 1308.11(h)(96) for 7-OH and (97) for MP.

The August 26, 2026 order stays in force in the meantime. That order (91 FR 54948) placed MP, MGM-15, and MGM-16 in Schedule I with no threshold, and it runs until August 26, 2028 or until a new order is published and the old one withdrawn - whichever comes first.

Date	What happened	Status
July 6, 2026	Notice of intent to schedule 7-OH alone above a threshold (91 FR 40917, FR Doc 2026-13580)	Withdrawn on October 14, 2026
August 26, 2026	Temporary order placing MP, MGM-15, and MGM-16 in Schedule I with no threshold (91 FR 54948)	In force until August 26, 2028 or until replaced
October 8, 2026	HHS letter recommending the new threshold; DEA Administrator signs the notice	Background only
October 14, 2026	New notice of intent for 7-OH and MP above a threshold (91 FR 65370, FR Doc 2026-20943)	30-day notice period runs
November 13, 2026	Earliest date the temporary order can publish	DEA said the order can publish on or after this date; check the Federal Register for whether it has

A companion document, FR Doc 2026-20942 under Docket No. DEA-1644, does the same procedural work for MGM-15 and MGM-16 - and keeps them controlled without any threshold, because HHS declined to recommend one.

The two-part test, in plain English

Read the regulatory text as an "or," because that's how it's written. Either part puts you in Schedule I.

Part one: the concentration threshold

If the amount of 7-OH alone, MP alone, or the two combined is greater than 1 milligram per gram in solid powders, encapsulated material, or other solid forms, it's over. For liquid preparations, the line is greater than 1 milligram per milliliter.

"Greater than" is doing real work. At exactly 1 mg/g you are not above the threshold on part one. At 1.1 you are.

Part two: the mitragynine-to-7-OH/MP ratio

Take the mass of mitragynine and divide it by the mass of 7-OH, or of MP, or of the two combined if both are present. If that number is less than 100, the product is over the line regardless of the mg/g figure.

This is the part sellers get wrong. It is a relationship between two alkaloids, so your lab has to measure both. A 7-OH-only COA cannot produce a ratio - there's nothing to divide by. Neither can a COA that reports 7-OH as a percentage of total alkaloids without a mitragynine number in the same run.

Part two is also the reason a diluted product doesn't automatically clear. Cut a concentrated shot down far enough and the mg/mL drops; but if the mitragynine level drops with it, the ratio doesn't improve. Both numbers have to move in your favor.

Is my kratom catalog still processable?

Depends entirely on what's in the catalog and what the COAs show. There's no blanket answer.

Here's what the Federal Register text does and doesn't say:

• Plain leaf and mitragynine are not proposed for control. Neither appears in the proposed amendments to 21 CFR 1308.11. DEA acknowledges that 7-OH and MP "have supposedly been found in trace amounts in some botanical kratom products," which is precisely why it set a threshold instead of scheduling the substances outright.
• MGM-15 and MGM-16 stay in Schedule I, with no threshold, under both the August 26, 2026 order and the new notice of intent.
• MP is controlled in any amount until the new order publishes. The August 26 order has no threshold. Nothing in the October 14 document softens that retroactively.

So the practical question isn't "does my processor take kratom." It's "can I show a stranger, on paper, that each SKU in my catalog sits below both thresholds." That's the question an underwriter is asking in 2026, and it's the one a kratom COA 7-OH threshold review is designed to answer.

This article explains the rule, not whether a specific product is compliant - that call belongs with counsel.

What your COAs must show

The three numbers on one report

Your certificate of analysis needs mitragynine, 7-hydroxymitragynine, and mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, quantified on a single report for a single lot. Percentages are fine if the lab also gives you mass per gram or per milliliter - the threshold is written in mg/g and mg/mL, so make sure the units convert cleanly rather than getting eyeballed at the underwriting desk.

From those three numbers you can run both tests yourself:

1. Is 7-OH, MP, or their sum above 1 mg/g (or 1 mg/mL)?
2. Is mitragynine ÷ (7-OH + MP) at or above 100?

If the answer to the first is "no" and the second is "yes," the lot is under both lines on the face of the report.

Lot-level, not product-level

A COA that says "Red Maeng Da Powder" with no lot number is a marketing document. You need a report tied to the specific lot you received and shipped, with a lot or batch identifier that matches your receiving records and, ideally, the packaging. When a processor re-underwrites a kratom account, they sample the catalog and ask for the paperwork behind random SKUs. A stack of product-level PDFs won't survive that.

What a COA cannot tell you

A COA is a lab result on a sample. It is not a legal opinion, and it is not a guarantee about the rest of the lot.

DEA said this part out loud. In both the notice and the conclusion, the agency writes that no one "should infer from this notice of intent that DEA views 7-hydroxymitragynine or mitragynine pseudoindoxyl below this threshold as safe for consumption." DEA also restates that it still views kratom and its two major psychoactive ingredients, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, as drugs of concern.

Translation for a seller: a passing COA protects you from the specific threshold tests. It doesn't make the product endorsed, and it doesn't stop a state from being stricter. DEA explicitly says its action "does not preempt more restrictive state law."

Which products should come off the site now

If any of the following is true, the product is a candidate to pull from sale, hide from the storefront, or hold pending documentation:

• It's marketed as 7-OH or "7-OH enhanced." Includes anything with 7-OH, 7-hydroxy, pseudoindoxyl, or MGM in the product name, description, or collection title.
• There's no lot-level COA covering mitragynine and 7-OH/MP. Not a product-level COA, not a COA for the raw material only, not a COA that lists a single alkaloid.
• The COA shows a value over threshold - over 1 mg/g or 1 mg/mL - or a ratio under 100. Either one is enough.
• The COA predates the current lot. A report from an earlier batch isn't evidence about the inventory you're shipping.

Two more that come up in practice: products where the COA reports 7-OH but the mitragynine column is blank, and products where the COA reports 7-OH as a share of "total alkaloids." Neither can produce a ratio, so neither answers part two.

Pulling a SKU costs you revenue. Shipping one that a processor later flags costs you the account, and possibly the reserve attached to it. On a mixed catalog, pulling early is usually the cheaper trade.

What happens to your account and reserves if the order publishes

When the temporary order publishes, Schedule I controls attach on that date. No grace period, and no sell-through provision appears anywhere in the October 14 text.

Here's how that usually reaches a merchant account.

Reserves. Risk teams price uncertainty. A category that just acquired a new federal bright line tends to get a higher rolling reserve, a longer hold, or both. If you don't yet know how reserves are calculated or released, our guide to rolling reserves for high-risk merchants walks through the mechanics - and knowing them is how you argue about a number instead of accepting it.

Re-underwriting. Expect the processor to ask for an updated catalog and updated COAs. That's not hostility; it's a portfolio review. The merchants who keep processing are usually the ones who hand over a clean spreadsheet and a folder of lot-level reports before being asked twice.

A second rail. Card processing can stop in an afternoon. ACH or another backup rail keeps revenue moving while a card account is sorted out. A MATCH list listing is a separate risk that comes from the card side, not from adding ACH - so a backup rail protects the revenue, not the record.

If the account freezes. Don't wait for an explanation that isn't coming. Here's what to do when a processor freezes your account - the sequence matters more than the speed.

If you get declined or shut down. A decline on one platform says very little about the next. This guide covers getting a high-risk merchant account after a decline or shutdown, including what to fix in the application before you resubmit.

One more thing to ask about: fee schedules that shift when a category gets reclassified. The questions to ask about specialty merchant fees are worth having in hand before you sign anything new.

A documentation pack to have ready

Build this once and keep it current. It speeds up review.

• Lot-level COAs for every SKU you ship, each showing mitragynine, 7-OH, and MP with a lot identifier that matches your receiving records.
• A catalog audit export - SKU, product name, form (powder, capsule, liquid), unit size, and the lot IDs on hand. One row per SKU, dated. Processors ask for this and most merchants don't have it.
• State shipping restrictions. State law varies, and DEA's action doesn't preempt stricter state rules.
• Supplier attestations. A written statement from each supplier that the material is botanical Mitragyna speciosa with no added 7-OH, MP, MGM-15, or MGM-16 - and a commitment to notify you if that changes.
• A written product description policy. Internal rules for what can appear in a product title, description, or collection name, who approves it, and what gets pulled automatically. This is what stops a "7-OH enhanced" claim from reappearing six months after you cleaned the catalog.

Add a dated change log. When a processor asks what changed since your last review, a one-page diff is a very persuasive document.

How Find a Processor helps

The hard part of kratom payment processing in 2026 isn't finding a company that says it accepts kratom. It's finding the ones whose underwriting actually fits what you sell - and getting in front of a human who will read your COAs instead of pattern-matching your domain to a category code.

That's the gap we work in. One conversation with Find a Processor introduces you to a portfolio of processors that want to work with your business. Not a list to cold-call through, and not a directory of who "supports high risk." An introduction, made on the strength of what your catalog and documentation actually show.

What we walk through with you:

• The application, line by line, so the COA and lot details land where underwriters look for them.
• Pricing, in the form you'll actually pay it - not just the headline rate.
• Reserves, including what triggers a change and what a release schedule should look like.
• Contract terms, especially the parts about category reclassification and termination.

Then we help you compare the offers side by side instead of guessing at which one is better because the sales call felt smoother.

We don't promise approvals. What we can do is make sure a processor sees a plain-kratom catalog with clean documentation, rather than a stack of 7-OH product pages and a blank COA column. That's the version of your business worth underwriting.

FAQ

Is this legal advice? No. It's a reading of the Federal Register text. Talk to a lawyer about your products.

Is 7-OH scheduled right now? Not above a threshold. DEA has published a notice of intent, not an order. DEA said the order will publish on or after November 13, 2026 - check the Federal Register for whether it has. MP is different: it has been in Schedule I with no threshold since August 26, 2026.

My COA shows 0.8 mg/g of 7-OH. Am I clear? On part one, yes - 0.8 is under the 1 mg/g line. But part two is separate. If mitragynine isn't on that report, you can't show a ratio, and an underwriter will treat the lot as undocumented rather than clean.

What ratio should I ask my lab for? Ask for mitragynine mass and 7-OH/MP mass in the same run, in the same units. The arithmetic is mitragynine ÷ (7-OH + MP), and the number you want is 100 or above. Don't ask a lab for "a passing COA" - ask for the analytes and do the division yourself.

Can I sell through inventory after the order publishes? Nothing in the October 14 text creates a sell-through or disposal window. The order takes effect on publication, and November 13, 2026 is the earliest date that can happen.

Will this hurt kratom payment processing in 2026 for plain-leaf sellers? It can complicate it. Roughly the same way any new federal line does: processors re-underwrite, reserves may move, and applications get longer. A catalog that is unambiguously plain leaf, backed by lot-level COAs, is in a stronger position than one that mixes categories.

My processor asked for mitragynine potency, not just 7-OH. Why? Because mitragynine is the denominator in the ratio test. A 7-OH number alone tells them half of what the rule asks. It's also the clearest signal of whether a product is botanical material or something built from isolate.

Does a clean COA guarantee approval? No. It answers the threshold question. Underwriting also weighs geography, chargeback history, billing model, and the rest of the file - documentation makes you readable, and that's all it does.

Sources

• DEA, Schedules of Controlled Substances: Temporary Placement of 7-Hydroxymitragynine and Mitragynine Pseudoindoxyl Above a Specified Threshold in Schedule I, 91 FR 65370 (October 14, 2026), FR Doc. 2026-20943 - govinfo.gov
• DEA, Schedules of Controlled Substances: Temporary Placement of MGM-15 and MGM-16 in Schedule I, 91 FR 65381 (October 14, 2026), FR Doc. 2026-20942 - govinfo.gov
• DEA, Schedules of Controlled Substance: Temporary Placement of 7-Hydroxymitragynine Above a Specified Threshold in Schedule I, 91 FR 40917 (July 6, 2026), FR Doc. 2026-13580 - withdrawn October 14, 2026 - govinfo.gov
• DEA Diversion Control Division, "What's New" - deadiversion.usdoj.gov
• Temporary scheduling authority, 21 U.S.C. 811(h)

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If your catalog is plain leaf and your COAs show the three numbers, you have a story worth telling an underwriter. If they don't, start there - then start a conversation with Find a Processor and we'll walk your file through the processors most likely to read it the same way you do.