Member States now have a transition period of less than two years to transpose the new RED into their national laws. Manufacturers will have an additional year to comply, as equipment compliant with the current R&TTE Directive before 13 June 2016 may continue to be placed on the market until 13 June 2017.
Also, within Article 48 of the RED, a ‘making available on the market’ and ‘putting into service’ provision means that products which comply with the R&TTE Directive before 13 June 2016, and which are placed on the market before 13 June 2017, may be sold and brought into service later.
Exclusions Apply
All radio equipment is subject to the RED. This is defined as an electrical or electronic product which intentionally emits or receives radio waves for the purpose of radio communication and/or radio determination, or an electrical or electronic product which must be completed with an accessory (such as an antenna) so as to intentionally emit and/or receive radio waves for the purpose of radio communication and/or radio determination. Therefore, all radio receivers, including broadcast radio and TV receivers, fall within this definition.
The RED excludes equipment that is: “radio equipment exclusively used for activities concerning public security, defence, State security, including the economic wellbeing of the State in the case of activities pertaining to State security matters, and the activities of the State in the area of criminal law”.
Marine equipment that falls within the scope of Council Directive 96/98/EC is also excluded, as are airborne products, parts and appliances falling within the scope of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008, and custom-built evaluation kits designed for professionals to be used solely at R&D facilities. Another exclusion is radio equipment used by radio amateurs.
All items of equipment within the RED’s scope, placed on the European market for the first time, must follow a conformity assessment procedure that is specified within the Directive.
Harmonised standards also provide a presumption of conformity with the RED’s essential requirements, but it also requires the use of a Notified Body where no radio or relevant Article 3.3 Harmonised Standard exists.
Major Change
The RED’s new requirements are intended to clearly spell out the responsibilities and obligations for every economic operator involved in the supply chain (manufacturer, importer, distributor, authorised representative). This means that there are some major changes that those within the supply chain, as well as Notified Bodies and market surveillance authorities, must be ready for when the Directive is fully in place.
The changes made in the RED are in some instances wide ranging, with Annexes being renumbered and updated. However, the new Directive also sees the deletion of some unnecessary administrative obligations, which should reduce the organisational overheads of economic operators.
To enable full traceability of supply, the RED requires that each economic operator must be able to identify who has supplied them with radio equipment and to whom they have supplied the radio equipment.
Article 10 (Obligations of manufacturers) refers to changes to the system for the Declaration of Conformity (DoC), with manufacturers now having two options within the new Directive. One option is to include a copy of the full DoC covering all applicable Directives with each piece of radio equipment.
The second option is to include a simplified DoC, but this must include the exact Internet address where the full version can be obtained. It must also be available in a language or languages required by the Member State in which the radio equipment is placed.
While the old R&TTE Directive made no specific reference to language requirements, the new RED requires that the manufacturer’s contact details are in a language easily understood by end-users and market surveillance authorities. It also states that the product must be accompanied by instructions in a language which can be easily understood, as determined by the Member State in which the product is being sold.
In most cases English should be acceptable, but there will be some Member States which insist information is translated into their native language before it can be sold. This will of course cost manufacturers both money and time - increasing time to market for new goods.
Article 17 of the new Directive also introduces that for the first time a safety assessment must now take into account reasonably foreseeable usage conditions. This means that a manufacturer must now anticipate how a person might misuse the equipment, not just the intended use as outlined in the equipment’s instructions.
New responsibilities for importers have also been introduced with regards to sample testing of products. However, it is not entirely clear at what point this becomes a mandatory requirement as the Directive uses the words ‘when deemed appropriate with regard to the risks presented by radio equipment’, so this is quite subjective. However, to protect the health and safety of consumers, importers will be required to carry out sample testing of radio equipment made available on the market.
Importers must investigate and keep a register of complaints of non-conforming radio equipment and of product recalls, and keep distributors informed of such monitoring. They are also required to keep a copy of the DoC ten years after the radio equipment has first been placed on the market, as the market surveillance authorities will have a right to request a copy during that period of time.
Re-branded radio equipment is also included in Article 14. This now means that an importer or distributor takes on the responsibilities as if they were the manufacturer where they supply radio equipment under their name or trade mark.
One completely new element of the RED is intended to support the European Commission’s push for mobile phones, and other portable devices, to be compatible with a common charger. Consequently, the RED’s Essential Requirements now states that: “radio equipment interworks with accessories, in particular with common chargers”, which could represent significant costs for manufacturers.
Another significant change is that Telecommunication Terminal Equipment (TTE) -fixed line terminal equipment - is now outside the scope of the RED and is instead covered by the EMC and Low Voltage Directives.
Another first is that Article 5 of the Directive (Registration of radio equipment within some categories) introduces the requirement to register products, which fall within categories showing low levels of compliance with the Essential Requirements, in a central database. It is intended that this will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of market surveillance and therefore contribute to a higher level of compliance with the Directive.
With enforcement of the new RED less than two years away, its wide ranging changes will require some significant adaptations to how radio equipment is manufactured and supplied. It is therefore vital that those in the supply chain understand their specific obligations, as well as those other economic operators they do business with, so that their equipment complies within the deadline and can continue to be sold on the European market.
Jean-Louis Evans is managing director at TÜV SÜD Product Service