Import Ban on Toy Drones Lifted

The Federal Communications Commission has issued a public notice lifting a ban on toy drones.

The FCC maintains a list of equipment and services that have been determined to pose an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security or the security and safety of U.S. persons (Covered List). In recent months the FCC has added to this list all uncrewed aircraft systems (drones) and UAS critical components produced in foreign countries. These actions effectively prohibit new such goods from being imported for use or sale in the U.S. but do not prohibit the import, sale, or use of any existing drone models previously authorized by the FCC.

On June 15 the FCC announced that it has removed toy drones and toy drones that contain foreign-produced components from the Covered List, thus lifting the ban on imports of such goods. The FCC cited a determination from the Department of Defense that “toy drones lack the organic capabilities and features in range, endurance, sensing, payload, connectivity, and data collection and storage to present an unacceptable risk” to U.S. national security.

The FCC notice also lists a number of specific criteria that drones must meet to be considered toys and thus not included on the Covered List.

The FCC is also continuing to grant conditional approvals for specific drones that exempt them from the Covered List and the associated import restrictions. Announcements can be found on the FCC website.