This is just a subsection of a list, 20 additional countries.
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I cant imagine waiting all this time only to be told that it was for literally nothing and that I wouldnt get a glowforge at all… I feel bad for anyone affected by this.
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I would hope so. I dont know the logistics of traveling, retrieving it, and bringing it back across national borders (other than Canada) but at least it would be an option.
I’m glad to see that Malta is not on the list!
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I wonder if when they cancel the orders for those people if they also cut off their ability to post on this forum. Maybe why the blowback seems to be minimal here.
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In the past when people cancel their own order, they do lose access to the forum. So I would assume these users would as well sadly.
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Or maybe because the “tiny handful” is really a tiny handful and those folks aren’t on the board in the first place. The only one that surprised me was the Philippines as it’s regulatory climate is pretty US-like due to our huge military presence up into the 1980s.
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They usually lose access but I believe it is a manual process by staff, so it may not take effect right away
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Probably. They can still read the responses here though. I’m so very saddened by it. I hope everyone affected manages to find a local source they can use.
@dan, if your people know of any, maybe they could suggest a local alternative for the folks affected when they send out the notifications. It would be a considerate thing to do if they have any information.
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A nagging feeling inside me tells me they’re about to drop another 6 month delay on international orders and then, if that happens, I wouldn’t be surprised in 6 months time if they decided they were only shipping in the US.
Will see what tomorrows email says, lost all hope of receiving it before the self imposed deadlines.
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I tried to stop having feelings about it at the last announcement. (Not working very well, but I’m trying. It’s really hard to do once you’ve established a relationship with people over a year or so of interactions.)
I don’t know. They might not know yet either. I guess we wait and see. 
I feel bad for those customers who held out only to be excluded. I will miss @rodrigobrionesm.
5 countries in South America, dang.
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Probably a safe bet, considering (last I knew) they had no safety approvals anywhere but the US.
He made arrangements to pick it up here though, didn’t he? I thought he already had the email?
Well shoot…now I’ve got to go search…
Okay - whew! He made arrangements to pick it up in Miami. (I’m starting to forget stuff now…too much happening.)
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I don’t know, except I’m pretty sure he lives in Chile - so I don’t know why he would have gotten an email.
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Oh, great!
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We’re talking about the pilot who frequently flies to Miami correct? He probably won’t have an issue.
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If anyone knows of a place you can go for a definitive list of import rules and regulations for each country please let me know. I’ve been in medical devices for 17 years and I’m still amazed by how hard it is to answer the question: so what does R&D have to do to make it acceptable in this list of places? Our regulatory specialists are always researching stuff, our outside certification agencies are always researching stuff and then they change their minds. As med devices is an inherently international business I’m probably more aware of this than most. The length of the list, and some of the countries on the list, do surprise me.
Some of those countries may be on the list as a business decision. If you have two orders for a country and it is going to cost $20k for approvals, then do you refund them the money or lose money? There could also be time considerations. As an example, to get a new medical device approved in China as a foreign company you have to go through the Beijing office and the current estimated wait is 2.5 years. If you’re a Chinese company you can go through your district office and the wait is about six months. Also, iirc your WiFi testing has to be done in China, which does nothing but add time and cost. If you’re already two years late do you risk they won’t all cancel in the two more years it will take?
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Thanks for that insight.
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Spot on. I don’t think it has to do with safety certifications as others have opined. I expect it’s all about the cost of doing business in those countries. Places where the fees to allow your product to be sold (or delivered) in country far exceed the potential business you might get from that country. Those are things you don’t find out when you’re initially building a product and looking at what’s required - you check on UL or NRTL or other standard certifications and see if those are accepted and move on. When you finally have to start prepping deliveries then you find out you have to register as a foreign entity and you have to have in-country testing to verify the testing you’ve already had (so that country can prop up its testing/certification industry), etc. I expect this was a pure cost of doing business decision. Folks in the US/Canada & the EU don’t necessarily appreciate how relatively easy it is to ship product between all of the countries because they’ve made it simple. Other countries erect barriers to foreign competition for their internal industries - even if the products are not exactly the same or in the same league.
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