Context
Directive 89/336/EC of the Council of 3 May 1989, concerning electromagnetic compatibility, aimed to harmonise national provisions that protect against electromagnetic disturbances, in order to guarantee the free movement of electric and electronic devices.
This Directive was transposed into the national legal order by Decree-Law no. 74/92 of 29 April, modified by Decree-Law no. 98/95 of 17 May and by Administrative Rule no. 767-A/93 of 31 August, modified in turn by Administrative Rule no. 935/95 of 24 June.
Community requirements in terms of electromagnetic compatibility imply fulfilment of the essential requirements, verified by means of an EC declaration of conformity with the applicable norms issued by the maker or its representatives, established in one of the European Union countries. Besides this, the maker or its agent shall place the CE conformity logo on the device itself or, if this is not possible, on the package, in the usage instructions or in the certificate of guarantee.
The said Decree-Law no. 74/92 of 29 April grants ICP-ANACOM powers to oversee the legal provisions in matters of electromagnetic compatibility, without prejudicing the powers set by law for other entities.
The list of electric and electronic equipment covered by the electromagnetic compatibility regime is extremely large. Examples include domestic electric appliances, office devices, computers and other information technology equipment, lighting equipment and electric lights, consumer electronics (including televisions), or, generally speaking, all equipment that when functioning can create electromagnetic disturbances or be affected by same.
In terms of market supervision, the three previously described procedures for evaluating the conformity of radio equipment and telecommunications terminal equipment (procedures 1, 2 and 3) are applied in this case.
Activity pursued in 2002
In 2002, procedure 1 inspection actions covered 1,363 equipment items, including domestic items and computer and office equipment.
In the context of procedure 2, some 51 actions were carried out with tested equipment; 4 technical unconformities were detected along with 26 documental unconformities.
During the year 2002, and in documental terms, some 276 equipment items were examined in the scope of procedure 3. The main detected unconformities in the inspection actions of this procedure were the following:
| No. | % | |
|---|---|---|
| Absence of CE declaration | 39 | 16 |
| CE declaration does not mention standard(s) | 21 | 8,6 |
| CE declaration does not mention model(s) | 22 | 9,0 |
| CE declaration does not mention Directive | 1 | 0,4 |
| CE declaration contains standard(s) whose validity has expired | 1 | 0,4 |
| Incomplete CE declaration (date and signature) | 1 | 0,4 |
| Absence of manual | 109 | 44,7 |
| Manual does not consider model | 10 | 4,1 |
| Manual in foreign language | 40 | 16,4 |
| TOTAL | 244 | 100,0 |
Source: ICP-ANACOM
In 2002, ICP-ANACOM received 112 notifications from other European Union member States under terms of the co-operation procedure envisaged in this context.
As a consequence of the inspection actions carried out, Portugal filed three notification cases with the European Commission.
