With 332 million buyers and an almost constant growth in consumption of electronic, electrical and radio equipment, the US market looms 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 appear 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 Certifications FCC And ISED, liaising with certifying and regulatory bodies of which an overview follows.
FCC: standards for electronic and telecommunications equipment
In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the competent body that defines the regulations and technical standards regarding the different types of electronic equipment, including radio frequency devices, telecommunications terminals and industrial, scientific and medical equipment.
All the specific regulations to which these and other devices refer are contained in the various Parts that make up the Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations of the United States (Code of Federal Regulations).
Radio frequency equipment is regulated in Part 15 of the Code. This part specifies the limit quantity of electromagnetic interference emitted by equipment that contains a digital circuit inside it and which operates at a frequency higher than 9kHz and which is divided into:
- intentional radiators (intentional emitters), devices that intentionally generate and emit radio frequency 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 connecting wiring, but which are not intended to emit radio frequency by radiation or induction;
- incidental radiators (accidental emitters), devices that generate radio frequency energy during their operation although they are not intentionally designed to generate or emit radio frequency energy. Examples of accidental emitters are DC motors, mechanical light switches, etc.
It varies depending on the type of equipment the type of authorization procedure to be able to market the product on the United States market.
How to obtain authorization FCC?
Regulation FCC provides two different ones authorization procedures: the Supplier's Declaration of Conformity and the Certification.
There 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 toFCC or register the equipment in the Commission's database.
The equipment authorized with the procedure SdoC they must be subjected to technical testing in a testing laboratory.
Once the tests have been passed, 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 broadcast receivers
• FM broadcast receivers
• CB receivers
• TV interface devices
• Class B personal computers and peripherals
• Class B external switching power supplies
• Other Class B digital devices and peripherals
• Class A digital devices, peripherals and external switching power supplies
There procedure Certification it is the most rigorous one since it concerns transmitting equipment with the greatest probability of interfering with radio services.
This procedure requires the company responsible for the product to obtain from FCC a called identifier Grantee Code. This identifier is required only once and will constitute the first characters of all codes FCC ID which will be assigned to the different products of that company.
Furthermore, the appointment of a FCC US Agent, responsible for representing the manufacturer or importer in all interactions with the FCC regarding the certification and authorization of their equipment. The agent must have based in the United States and be authorized to receive legal notifications and other official documents on behalf of the manufacturer or importer.
It is necessary to subject the equipment to the applicable tests at an accredited laboratory FCC. All technical documentation and test reports must then be sent to a telecommunications certification body, Telecommunications Certification Body (TCB).
THE TCB they are bodies authorized to verify that the product meets the requirements to receive approval.
After the institution has validated the conformity of the product, the administrative procedures necessary forcertification approval and the identification code will be assigned FCC ID which must appear on the product label.
All documentation will then be uploaded to databases 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 marking FCC for all the cases indicated above, included company registration a FCC (Grant Code) and the function of responsible representative agent. Similar services are also offered for Canada in accordance with specific regulations.
To request further information on this topic, write to info@sicomtesting.com
or call +39 0481 778931.
Related articles
FCC has mutual recognition agreements with several countries https://www.fcc.gov/general/equipment-authorization-eu-mra. This appears to cover unintentional radiators, such as the personal computers we sell. It's correct?
Thank you
Good morning,
The agreement refers to "Conformity assessment bodies" (CBA), allows you to carry out:
– tests according to European requirements in a laboratory in the USA.
– testing according to US requirements in a laboratory in Europe.
In any case, to market the product in Europe, conformity must be demonstrated according to European requirements, to market the product in the United States, conformity according to US requirements must be demonstrated.
Best regards
Sicom Test