Important Regulation Change: DJI Drones – Feb. 2021
The following message was sent via email to all University of Maine employees on Feb. 2, 2021 by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School.
Dear members of the University of Maine and University of Maine at Machias communities,
This notice is to alert you that a recent change under U.S. Export Control Regulations may impact users of DJI drones. Effective December 18th, 2020, DJI was added to the Entity List (PDF) and will no longer be permitted to receive US exports controlled under the Commerce Department’s Export Administration Regulations without a license. The key impact to users of DJI drones is that interaction with, or export to, DJI may require an export license. Therefore, any planned interaction with DJI needs prior review and approval by the export control team in the Office of Research Compliance, including any customer service or repair calls. Users should also review their DJI drone settings to ensure the drone is not set by default to send data to DJI (this export of data to DJI servers could potentially result in a significant fine, up to $1,000,000 per violation).
While this regulatory change does not prevent DJI drones from being sold and purchased in the U.S., and UMaine personnel who use DJI products are not required to discard them at this time, it is important for users to be aware of this significant regulatory change and work closely with the Office of Research Compliance before interacting with, or exporting items or data to, DJI. Please direct questions and requests for review to um.export@maine.edu.
Sincerely,
Amanda Ashe
Amanda Ashe, CRA, ECoP® – EAR/ITAR
Director of Research Compliance
Export Control Officer
Office of Research Compliance