Why is the FDA holding up delivery of an Apple computer?

The Food and Drug Administration is holding up the delivery of MG Siegler's iMac because they apparently think it is an apple, not an Apple.

I don’t want to believe that either UPS or the U.S. Government are so stupid as to think that my Apple computer is actually an apple, but I can’t come up with any other explanation (and neither can people on Twitter). On my UPS tracking shipment screen right now all I see is “Exception” followed by a note that my iMac was held up in in Louisville, Kentucky because, “UPS HAS OBTAINED DOCUMENTATION AND SUBMITTED TO FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION AND/OR DEPARTMENT OF AG/PPQ;AWAITING RESPONSE”

Dear FDA, Gimme My iMac

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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ndollak

See if it makes a noise like an apple!
- Anonymous
  
  Let’s see if it floats like an apple… If so, it’s a witch!
Anonymous

Well, I think things are complicated by the fact that it’s coming from China. But still, it’s a little ridiculous to think it would be an apple (the fruit). I mean, c’mon… seriously.
Anonymous

I Googled this, and the first results were for people with the same message who possibly had insects in their computers, because other computers in same shipments were found to have these bugs. Prolly what the internets said.
- jackie31337
  
  people with the same message who possibly had insects in their computers, because other computers in same shipments were found to have these bugs.
  
  (obligatory) It’s not a bug, it’s a feature! (/obligatory)
- Anonymous
  
  What?! I thought Apple(s) didn’t have bugs -OR- worms! :-P
- Church
  
  “I Googled this, and the first results were for people with the same message who possibly had insects in their computers, because other computers in same shipments were found to have these bugs.”
  
  APPLES HAVE NO BUGS!!!!1!
  
  They have features…
  - jackie31337
    
    Damn, you beat me to it.
skypny

It’s entirely possible that this package, if moving by UPS ground, is in a trailer or rail container with another item that has been flagged for FDA/USDA inspection. Likely has absolutely nothing to do with your laptop, but it may be an “innocent bystander” in a sense if something else in the trailer has caused a stir. Usually that sort of delay only takes place at a border crossing into Canada or Mexico, but working in transportion/logistics, it’s one of the few ideas I could come up with.
ryanrafferty

Obviously because it’s made of Apples — DUH!
Anonymous

I once had a package containing a few books from Amazon marked as flagged for inspection by a federal agency the same day it had been sent out on the truck for delivery. Since I knew the delivery guy, I stopped him the next day and asked how and why that would happen to such an innocuous package. His response? He’d dropped a package in the truck and spilled its contents the day before, and had to drive back to the depot. The “federal inspection” flag was simply the first convenient status option that came up when they were logging the delayed packages. I wouldn’t be shocked if something similar was the case here.
Anonymous

I’m seeing the same thing for my iMac, billing info received 12/2/09 at 6:37 am location ‘CN’. Made it to Oakland on Sunday so should be here tomorrow.
jere7my

Perhaps they found a potentially invasive species in the package, like a wood-borer, and need someone to inspect it before they devastate the ecosystem of the recipient?
Anonymous

why does it weigh so much?
glory bee

Now as I’m now 50 or so.. before my daughter introduced me 10 glorious years ago to the computer and THE NET..being of a gullible nature, I might have believed that an apple was an apple and nothing to do with the net. But .. in a funny way it gives me hope that the all prevailing cynicism of today is not going to totally win out.
eagleapex

The FDA regulates lasers, that sort of applies to the DVD drive.
Anonymous

Oh c’mon people, 20 comments and no one mentions the customs hiccup with an early shipment of (microsoft?) mice. Importing animals and especially vermin is tightly controlled, after all.
Anonymous

Isn’t this new range of iMacs full of bugs? that’s what i’ve been reading on the interwebs…
Anonymous

Ah What kind of apples ? red ones or green ones
drewwill

Surely this is some idiot at UPS that hit the wrong checkbox.
Snig

Actually, the internet likely lights up the same pleasure centers as a lot of meds, so addiction cops getting involved might make some flavor of sense.
- invictus
  
  I presume you mean DEA, then, not FDA.
  - Snig
    
    I see your point, but the FDA does have say over the legal addictions (tobacco, oxycontin, caffeine), though the DEA will swoop in when one of these becomes criminal.
Anonymous

when i worked for the US postal service we could get boxes of fruit all the time, they’d be weaping and half the time infested with insects, never labeled as having fruit but it was obvious. the worst was when we could only leave a notice and the box would literally rot on the shelf waiting for the person to pick it up. much of these came from mexico for some reason.
BritSwedeGuy

Given that this, the lead story on BoingBoing Gadgets as at 15 December, is over 10 days old – are we to assume that BoingBoing Gadgets is effectively dead?
- octopod
  
  well, it was a tc repost anyways.
IamInnocent

Maybe it was befriend by one of FDA’s (Windows?) computer.
J France

Further evidence that Twitter is full of lowgrade thinkers.

Contaminated co-package or shipment. Other known contaminants.
Of course just as likely the explanation arrived at by the writer. Maybe.
peterbruells

I’m with the collateral damage crowd. One of our packages just stood 24 hours on the tarmac (well, the plane did), awaiting inspection by customs. Well, not our package, but it happened to be on the plane when a full lockdown was deemed necessary.
Piperbum

UPS billing is the spawn of evil. No doubt they’ll charge an outrageous fee for making sure that computer didn’t grow on a tree.
Anonymous

This is from UPS:

Thank you for your e-mail. I tracked your package and confirmed that the contents of your package do require FDA clearance. Computers, Notebook and Laptop Computers containing CD/DVD drives as components require clearance from the Food and Drug Administration. Delays due to clearance through government agencies are outside of UPS control. As of 12/06, the FDA has cleared the package. Delivery is scheduled for tomorrow. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help. I apologize for the delay.

Best Regards,

John Kinnear
UPS Corporate Customer Relations
Anonymous

It’s sitting there in the middle of the comments, but it’s full of truthiness… I’ve had MULTIPLE shipments of computers held up because of the laser cert for the DVD drive… Always international. And it is the FDA that enforces the laser statutes for shipment. Now if you contact the main FDA people they will tell you that the law isn’t meant to apply to DVD lasers, but it’s incredibly common for the local offices to hold up any box that has that little laser symbol on it that’s not accompanied by the manufacturers compliance licensing. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if that were it…
Anonymous

I immediately thought about this story I read as a kid in a Disney treasury, called “Pigs is Pigs”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigs_Is_Pigs
Micah

It’s also possible that it’s included in a larger shipment that was packaged in a wooden crate. Wooden crates are sometimes inspected by the USDA to make sure they don’t have any bugs living in them.
Anonymous

FYI: I’m a customs broker here in BOS. This shipment had to clear US Customs upon entry into the US. UPS is acting as Customs broker and has supplied US Customs with Harmonized Tariff Codes in order to classify the info to US Customs. Merchandise classified under certain tariff codes are subject to Other Government Agencies (US FDA, USDA, FCC, ETC). The tariff code entered to Customs flags the shipment for other government agency jurisdiction and enforcement. A poster above mentioned that that CD/DVD laser is regulated by the US FDA and that is correct due to radiation. That being said, the US FDA does not hold up a clearance of merchandise and this merchandise can legally be moved to the final consignee until entry approval is ascertained from the FDA, however, the shipment must remain intact until FDA authorizes entry. Hence, UPS is only holding up the shipment until full clearance is had. Believe me, nobody thinks this is an actual apple.
Anonymous

Doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. I’ve had a package of a metal oxide held up while the FDA insists I sign a declaration that said metal oxide was not an animal or vegetable product.

I tried pointing out that we tend to get metals from mines but no one would budge. I even tried pointing to the Customs own documentation about tariffs and so on on metal oxides but to no avail.
Anonymous

Why did they get a Mac all the way from China? There must have been a more convenient burger bar?
JuliANSR

What’s holding up news posts on BBG? this shows as the last @gadgets.boing….
Anonymous

This happened to my Apple as well but it came within a week and had no problems.
Anonymous

My G4 Powerbook was held up in Alaska many many years ago. The DVD drive had a laser and the FDA is in charge of regulating lasers. I had ordered 2 day shipping, it took almost a month.
xeoron

I would suggest calling UPS up and seeing what they are able to tell you, though they might not tell you might unless you are the shipper. With that said, I would also call up the shipper of record and talk to them about it, too.
Anonymous

Well, since Apple sues actual food companies for using apples in their logos, this is only fitting.
Anonymous

The anonymous poster above wrote:
“Computers, Notebook and Laptop Computers containing CD/DVD drives as components require clearance from the Food and Drug Administration.”

I suppose that the FDA could have rights over the clearance of the lasers in said drives as a health measure. Naturally, it’s a load of bs posing as an excuse for a government bureaucrat to keep his job, but hey someone has to do it!
benher

*sighhhh* Do you want to be safe from terrorists or NOT?
Anonymous

Computers are regulated by the FDA as they can emit harmful radiation.
hastepost

Snow Leopard in box.
Lynda Applegate

No, they are not that stupid. There was a nasty bug which entered the U.S. in packaging material from Asia. They now require any packaging from Asia using wood products to be treated to destroy any possible larva, AND, if no wood products were used for packaging, the shipper must certify same.
More info on the FDA and international shipments
stwaldo

FDA/DoA inspects overseas shipments for contamination all the time – not just for insects or other animals, but also for soil contamination, seeds, vegetable matter, etc. Both times while trying to return equipment from a deployment overseas, FDA had to certify all of our vehicles (“lol, maibee teh gov’ment tinks a tank iz fish tank wit fishees!”) were clear of dirt, plants, etc.

Next time you see a post about an invasive species of plant, fish, insect, reptile, etc, come back and read this post.

And for cripes sake, Mark, did you even read the whole bit, or did you just see the LOLFed and hit submit? The tracking bill shows it at customs at 1:24pm on the 4th. You posted the news item at 3:11pm on the 4th. So yes, it’s possible that his iMac was held up for a whole hour and a half in the interim (or whatever the timezones work out to).

In closing: http://xkcd.com/386/
Anonymous

So this explaines what happened to my Apple iPod that mysteriously dissapeared in transit at the same point in KY. THEY ATE IT!