3DR International Shipping Update

by Andy Jensen [ http://diydrones.com/profile/AndyJensen ]

DIYDrones.com

June 2, 2014

Hello everyone,

As most of you are aware, 3D Robotics recently paused shipments to locations outside the US and Canada. I know that there has been plenty of speculation about why this is and when shipments will resume. I also know that there has been some unhappiness about the level of transparency that 3DR has provided in this process. I'd like to give you some information that I hope you will find useful.

As we all know, this is a nascent industry and it can sometimes be a challenge to fit the things happening here into categories and regulations that were developed long ago. As such, regulatory reviews of these items are logically necessary and appropriate for 3DR and other companies in this space.

We're working with the Department of Commerce on the export classification of our flight controllers. We certainly wish that we could do so without pausing our international shipments, but as the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure--we'd rather be a little extra conservative and work well with the authorities. We expect that many of the safeguards we've already put in place will help speed the process, but we need to go through a full review to ensure that once we resume exports there will be no further disruptions.

Starting tomorrow, we will make available for international shipment many items that you will find useful: cables, hardware, batteries, fiber plates, motors, and more. We'll continue to make more items available as quickly as we can.

As this moves along, we'll provide updates when there is relevant information that is helpful to share with the community. I know that you all spend some of your valuable free time on DIY Drones because you are passionate about what this technology and this community can do. Those are the same reasons that we exist as a company. We are in this for the long term, and the process we're going through now will help to put us on even more solid footing to support the increasingly international future of these products. We sincerely appreciate your constant support.

Andy Jensen, 3DR

4:00am