With 332 millions of buyers and a consumption of electronic equipment, Electric and radio in almost constant growth, the US market is profiled as one of the most profitable and safe for manufacturers in the sector.
Products placed on the US market must meet the Technical requirements established by local regulations.
Regulations and compliance requirements can be presented as a Challenging context for companies wishing to enter the US market.
The most effective strategy is to collaborate with a competent laboratory such as Sicom Testing, which offers a complete service of Certifications FCC and ISED, relating to certification and regulatory bodies of which follows an overview.
FCC: standards for electronic and telecommunication equipment
In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) It is the competent body that sets the rules and technical standards regarding the various types of electronic equipment, including radio frequency devices, Telecommunications terminals and industrial equipment, scientific and medical.
All the specific regulations, which refer to these and other devices, are contained in the different parts that make up the Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations US (Code of Federal Regulations).
Radio frequency equipment is regulated in Part 15 of the Code. This part specifies the limit amount of electromagnetic interference emitted by equipment containing a digital circuit and operating at a frequency greater than 9kHz and divided into:
- intentional radiators (intentional emitters), devices that intentionally generate and emit radiofrequency energy by radiation or induction;
- unintentional radiators (unintentional emitters), devices that intentionally generate radio frequency energy for use within the device or that send radio frequency signals by conduction to associated equipment via link wiring, but which are not intended to emit radiofrequency by radiation or induction;
- incidental radiators (Accidental emitters), devices that generate radio frequency energy during their operation although not intentionally designed to generate or emit radio frequency energy. Examples of accidental emitters are DC motors, mechanical light switches, etc.
Depending on the type of equipment changes the type of authorisation procedure to be able to market the product on the U.S. market.
How to get permission FCC?
Regulation FCC provides two different Authorisation procedures: the Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity it is to Certification.
La Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity is the procedure whereby the product manager follows the necessary steps to ensure that the equipment complies with the applicable technical standards. In this case, It is not necessary to send the documentation to theFCC or register the equipment in the Commission's database.
The equipment authorized by the procedure SdoC must be subjected to technical testing in a test laboratory.
Once passed the tests, The documentation must be collected in a technical file which must be made available to the authorities FCC if requested.
Some examples of equipment that fall under this procedure are:
• Television receivers
• FM transmission receivers
• CB receivers
• TV interface devices
• Personal computers and class B peripherals
• External Class B switching power supplies
• Other Class B digital devices and peripherals
• Class A digital devices, External Switching Peripherals and Power Supplies
La procedura di Certification is the most stringent because it concerns transmitting equipment with the highest probability of interference with radio services.
This procedure requires that the company responsible for the product obtains from FCC an identifier called Grantee Code. this identifier is requested only once and will be the first characters of all codes FCC ID that will be assigned to the different products of that company.
In addition, the Appointment of a FCC US Agent, responsible for representing the manufacturer or importer in all interactions with the FCC regarding the certification and authorisation of their equipment. The staff member must have U.S. based and be authorized to receive legal notices and other official documents on behalf of the manufacturer or importer.
It's’ the equipment must be subjected to applicable testing at an accredited laboratory FCC. All technical documentation and test reports must then be sent to a certifying body for telecommunications, Telecommunications Certification Body (TCB).
The TCB bodies are allowed to verify that the product meets the requirements to receive approval.
After the body has validated the conformity of the product, The administrative procedures necessary for theCertification approval and the identification code will be assigned FCC ID which must appear on the product label.
All documentation will then be uploaded to the database FCC.
Some examples of equipment that fall under this procedure are:
• Bluetooth devices
• WiFi devices
•Remote controls
• RFID devices
Sicom Testing offers its customers a Full service of marking FCC for all the above cases, Included the registration of the company to FCC (Grantee Code) it is to Function of responsible representative agent. Similar services are also offered for Canada in accordance with specific regulations.
To request more information on this topic, write to info@sicomtesting.com
or call +39 0481 778931.
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FCC has mutual recognition agreements with several countries https://www.fcc.gov/general/equipment-authorization-eu-mra. This seems to cover unintentional radiators, like the personal computers we sell. It is correct?
Thank you
Good morning,
The agreement refers to “Conformity assessment bodies” (CBA), allows you to run:
– tests according to European requirements in a laboratory in the United States.
– tests according to US requirements in a laboratory in Europe.
In any case, to market the product in Europe, compliance with European requirements must be demonstrated., Compliance with U.S. requirements must be demonstrated to market the product in the U.S..
Kind regards
Sicom Test