Corn imported for human consumption falls under FDA jurisdiction and must meet food safety standards, while corn used as animal feed is subject to USDA oversight. Seed corn requires an USDA APHIS import permit and phytosanitary certification. Declaring the correct end-use at entry is essential to routing the shipment to the appropriate agency review.

Field corn (dent corn) is harvested dry and traded primarily as a bulk commodity for feed, fuel ethanol, and starch processing. Sweet corn is harvested at the milk stage with higher sugar content and is classified separately for fresh, frozen, or canned food markets. These distinctions affect both the applicable HTS subheading and the relevant food safety inspection pathway.