Sad August, but still need to move on...

Today we were told by our FedEx carrier, that one of our parcels were detained by the US customs, because they required the Drop Ball Test Certification.

What is a drop ball test certification? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires proper documentation stating that sunglasses and lenses shipped to the U.S. meet requirements for impact resistance. FDA regulation requires testing a “statistically significant sampling of lenses from each production batch” (21 CFR 801.410(c)(3)) of all non-prescription lenses and plastic prescription lenses using a method known as a “Drop Ball Test”. Registrar Corp detailed the test and result criteria in a previous blog. Each shipment of glasses and/or lenses is required to include a “Drop Ball Test” certificate.

Then how difficult is it to get such a certification? Well the problem is NOT how our sunglasses and their lenses are qualified, but how the economical efficiency is!

Each type (SKU, model) of glasses needs a single certification. You CAN'T cover all different kinds of your glasses with only just one certification, and you CAN'T ask any laboratory to cover a few kinds of glasses in just one certification. And to make a test and get a certificate, you need to pay two hundred dollars to get a certification for just one single model.

Then here is the problem -- Unless you buy (or sell) hundreds of glasses in one shipment, OR the cost will be extremely high for every single pair of glasses. Especially if an order contains plenty kinds of glasses, but every kinds has only one or two pairs, then it will be a disaster to apply for such certifications.

That is why we CAN'T use FedEx, DHL or other express carriers, because the customs DOESN'T allow them to come in without a Drop Ball Test Certification, no matter how FEW of pairs are there in just one small parcel.

During the coronavirus pandemic, many carriers move slowly, we know EMS sucks, we know ePacket sucks, but do we have more choices? Unfortunately the answer is NO!

You know we have paid a huge cost to buy this disappointing lesson.