Goto Main Content
:::

Select Folders:

Article Content

1.Signed on October 19, 2007 Entered into force on October 19, 2007
 
Mr Steve Waters
Representative
Australian Commerce and Industry Office
The President International Tower
27th-28th Floors #9-11
Song Gao Road, Taipei


Dear Mr. Waters,

RE: Australia and Taiwan EME MRA

I am delighted to acknowledge the results of the recent
discussions between representatives of the Australian
Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the Taipei
Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) on the subject of a mutual
recognition arrangement for equipment covered by the
Electromagnetic Energy (EME) health exposure regulatory
arrangement. The arrangement, as embodied in your letter and in
this letter, shall become effective upon ACIO’s receipt of this
letter.

I am pleased to inform you that the National Communications
Commission (NCC) is the designating authority in Taiwan for this
project, and is able to implement an arrangement with the
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). TECO
confirms that Taiwan will apply the general provisions, Appendix
A, and Phase I Procedures in Appendix B of the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangement of the
Conformity Assessment of Telecommunications Equipment (APEC TEL
MRA) to equipment covered by this letter.

Your letter, and this letter, will constitute the abovementioned
arrangement to recognize EME health exposure testing performed
by mutually recognized competent conformity assessment bodies
for radiocommunication products used against the human head,
such as cellular and cordless phones.

This bilateral EME-MRA, which will come into effect on the date
that you receive this letter, will allow products manufactured
or tested in Taiwan with a test report issued by a recognized
CAB to enter the Australia market without requiring retesting.
The MRA is based on mutual recognition of accredited CABs being
capable of testing and meeting each other’s EME standard. Under
this MRA, both ACMA and NCC recognize the limits of human
exposure developed by the International Council on Non-Ionizing
Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines.

The National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) is a body
with whom Taiwan Accreditation Foundation (TAF) has a mutual
recognition arrangement. NCC will accept test reports from
recognized CABs accredited by NATA, for the implementation of
this project in Australia, for the technical regulations and
specific standards covered in the Annex of this letter.

TECO, or NCC on behalf of TECO, will notify your office from
time to time of any modifications to the Annex of this letter.
The contact officer for this project in NCC is Mr. James Lou,
the Senior Technical Specialist of Technologies Administration
Division.

This letter represents the understandings of TECO and your
letter in response to it noting ACIO’s understanding that:

ACMA will be able to implement the APEC TEL MRA Phase I for
accepting test reports issued by CABs (Taiwan) to equipment
described in this letter in accordance with Australia’s EME
regulations (the Annex in your letter);

Taiwan will be able to apply the above mentioned provisions of
the APEC TEL MRA Phase I for accepting test reports issued by
CABs (Australia) to equipment described in this letter in
accordance with Taiwan’s EME regulations (the Annex in this
letter).

Yours sincerely
Dr Gary Song-Huann LIN
Representative
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office
Unit 8, Tourism House
40 Blackall Street
BARTON ACT 2600



Annex: List of Taiwan’s EME Regulations

The SAR value Legislative instruments are:

1. Chinese National Standard (CNS)14959: Limits for exposure to
time-varying electric magnetic and electromagnetic field (up
to 300 GHz).

2. CNS14958-1: Human exposure to radio frequency fields from
hand-held and body-mounted wireless communication devices --
Human models. Instrumentation, and procedures -- Part 1
procedure to determine the specific absorption rate (SAR) for
hand-held devices used in close proximity to the ear
(frequency range of 300MHz-3GHz).

NCC recognizes test methodology EN62209-1 and is able to
recognize the assessment methodology of ACMA’s EME standard :
Radiocommunications(Electromagnetic Radiation-Human Exposure)
Amendment Standard 2007 (No.1) as it is identical to EN62209-1.
NCC will accept test reports from recognized CABs when the test
reports demonstrate compliance with EN62209-1 and the exposure
standard.

19 October 2007
RE: ACMA2005/96
Dr Gary Song-Huann LIN
Representative
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office
Unit 8, Tourism House
40 Blackall Street
BARTON ACT 2600


Dear Dr Lin:

RE: Australia and Taiwan EME MRA

I refer to the recent discussions between representatives of the
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Australia on the
subject of a mutual recognition arrangement for equipment
covered by the Electromagnetic Energy (EME) health exposure
regulatory arrangement.

Further to these discussions, I am pleased to inform you that
the Australian Commerce and Industry Office (ACIO), acting on
behalf of the Australian Communications and Media Authority
(ACMA), will be able to implement an arrangement with the
National Communications Commission (NCC) of Taiwan.

ACIO confirms that Australia will apply the general provisions
in Appendix A and Phase 1 Procedures in Appendix B of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangement
of the Conformity Assessment of Telecommunications Equipment
(APEC TEL MRA) to equipment covered by this letter.

This letter and your letter in reply in accepting its terms
constitute the above mentioned arrangement to recognise EME
health exposure testing performed by mutually recognised
competent conformity assessment bodies for radiocommunication
products used against the human head, such as cellular and
cordless phones.

This arrangement takes effect on the date that I receive your
letter in reply as an understanding between ACMA and NCC under
the terms of the APEC Telecom MRA, that ACMA and NCC will apply
the Phase 1 Procedures in Appendix B for the mutual recognition
of testing laboratories for the acceptance of test reports from
recognised Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) designated for
EME health exposure conformity assessment of portable
radiocommunications products used against the human head.

This bilateral EME-MRA will allow products manufactured or
tested in Australia with a test report issued by a recognised
CAB to enter the Taiwan market without requiring retesting. The
MRA is based on the mutual recognition of accredited testing
facilities being capable of testing and meeting each other’s
EME standard. Under this MRA, both ACMA and NCC recognise the
limits of human exposure developed by the International
Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP)
guidelines.

Taiwan Accreditation Foundation (TAF) is a body with whom the
National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) has a mutual
recognition arrangement and is a NATA-MRA partner. ACMA will
accept test reports from recognised CABs accredited by TAF the
accreditation body, for the implementation of this project in
Taiwan, for the technical regulations and specific standards
covered in the Annex of this letter.

ACIO (on behalf of ACMA) may notify your office from time to
time of any modifications to the Annex of this letter. The
contact person for matters regarding this EME –MRA in ACMA is
Dr Marlene Edmondson, Manager of the EME and Telecommunications
Infrastructure Section, Regulation and Compliance Branch, Inputs
Division, Canberra.


This letter represents the understandings of ACIO and your
letter in response to it noting TECO’s understanding that:

NCC will be able to implement the APEC TEL MRA Phase 1 for
accepting test reports issued by CABs (Australia) to equipment
described in this letter in accordance with Taiwan’s EME
regulations (the Annex in your letter); andAustralia will be
able to apply the above mentioned provisions of the APEC TEL MRA
Phase 1 for accepting test reports issued by CABs (Taiwan) to
equipment described in this letter in accordance with Australia’
s EME regulations (the Annex in this letter).

Yours sincerely
Mr Steve Waters
Representative
Australian Commerce and Industry Office
The President International Tower,
27th-28th Floors #9-11
Song Gao Road,
TAIPEI



Annex: List of Australia’s EME Regulations

The EME legislative instruments are:

1. Radiocommunications (Electromagnetic Radiation – Human
Exposure) Standard 2003.
2. Radiocommunications (Electromagnetic Radiation – Human
Exposure) Amendment Standard 2007 (No. 1).
3. Radiocommunications (Compliance Labelling – Electromagnetic
Radiation) Notice 2003.

Conformity assessment under the APEC TEL MRA is conducted
against the importing Party’s requirements whether they are
aligned with those of the exporting country or not and the whole
premise of the APEC-TEL MRA is built on mutual acceptance of and
confidence in each others test houses.

For this bilateral MRA, Australia and Taiwan EME standards are
currently aligned which will make the task simpler for
conformity assessment bodies and suppliers.

ACMA’s Radiocommunications (Electromagnetic Radiation – Human
Exposure) Standard 2003 (the Exposure Standard) requires a range
of mobile and portable transmitter devices, such as cellular and
cordless phones to comply with the Australian Radiation
Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) Radiation
Protection Standard “Maximum Exposure Levels to Radiofrequency
Fields 3kHz to 300 GHz”.

With the Radiocommunications (Electromagnetic Radiation – Human
Exposure) Amendment Standard 2007 (No. 1), ACMA recognises test
methodology EN 62209-1 and is able to recognise the assessment
methodology of EME standard CNS 14958-1 as it is identical to EN
62209-1. ACMA will accept test reports from recognised CABs when
the test reports demonstrate compliance with EN62209-1 and the
Exposure Standard.