The Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment Compliance Association (R&TTE CA) and the Notified Bodies and Competent Authorities in the scope of the Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive of the European Association of Notified Bodies (EUANB) met last 27-28 November in Gran Canaria, Spain. The gathering was attended by 60 participants, representing administrations, the European Commission (EC), notified bodies, competent authorities, standardisation bodies and observers.
The following stand out among issues covered at the meeting:
The EC representative reported that the revised text of the Radio Directive (RE-D) is under discussion in the Council and in the European Parliament (EP). The EP Committee responsible for this area is Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO). The three most controversial topics for obtaining consensus are the equipment registration system, electronic branding/labelling of equipment and whether or not to include receivers, including broadcast receivers, in RE-D
Results of the fifth market surveillance campaign devoted to wireless local area networks (WLANs) in 5 GHz and the digital frequency selection (DFS) function were presented. The aim was to verify whether that function was activated in equipment as mandated by harmonised standard EN 301 893. A total of 21 member states took part in this European campaign, Portugal via ANACOM’s Testing and Calibration Laboratory (LEC). The 64 equipment items evaluated revealed the following: i) 3 devices (5 percent) do not have DFS implemented; ii) in 22 devices (35 percent) DFS can be deactivated by users by changing the firmware; and iii) 38 devices (59 percent) enable users to change the "usage region".
In conclusion, the high number of non-compliant equipment was noted; market surveillance bodies were thus urged to carry out more control actions to ensure that such equipment is banned from the respective markets.
The EC representative reported that the new EMC Directive is being revised in the various languages and should in principle be published in April 2014. This will be followed by a 24-month period for its transposition.
The next meeting will be held in Amsterdam this coming 19-20 May.
