(Bloomberg)—Amazon.com Inc. said the U.S. regulatory approval it received last week to test deliveries by unmanned aircraft, or drones, is too little, too late.

Amazon, No. 1 in the Internet Retailer 2014 Top 500 Guide, has developed new drone models and the one approved for testing by the Federal Aviation Administration is no longer being used, Paul Misener, the Seattle-based company’s vice president for global public policy, told U.S. lawmakers Tuesday at a hearing.

Misener’s testimony highlights the difference in the pace of technology companies looking to build a competitive advantage and regulators seeking to protect the public from harm. Amazon’s executive urged the federal government to move more quickly to approve testing of commercial drones, and highlighted the faster regulatory pace in Europe and Asia.

“Nowhere outside of the United States have we been required to wait more than one or two months to begin testing,” Misener told a subcommittee of the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation panel. “What the FAA needs is impetus, lest the United States fall further behind.”

Amazon wrote the FAA in December threatening to divert its research program to other countries if the agency didn’t act quickly to approve outdoor test flights of the unmanned aircraft. The FAA last week said Amazon can fly its drones only during the day, within 400 feet of the ground and within sight of an operator who has a traditional pilot’s license.

Operator debate

Amazon wants to be able to program the unmanned aircraft to make the flight, while dodging obstacles, on its own. The FAA on Feb. 15 introduced proposed rules for commercial drone flights that wouldn’t permit such automated activity because they require operators to keep the craft within sight at all times.

Responding to criticism about the proposed rules, Peggy Gilligan, the agency’s associate administrator for aviation safety, said the FAA is reviewing issues regarding how unmanned aircraft can automatically sense and avoid other air traffic.

“It’s a far more complex area, and it’s an area where we do not have the technology standards,” Gilligan said at the congressional hearing, adding the agency expects to have more information within the next year.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in December 2013 that he wanted to pioneer the use of small unmanned helicopters to deliver books and other items to people’s homes. The goal was to deliver packages weighing as much as 5 pounds (2.3 kilograms) within a 10-mile (16 kilometer) radius, Bezos said.

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