Product compliance

Why do electrical and radio products have to comply?

Electrical, electronic and radio products on sale or in use in New Zealand must comply with Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) standards, to minimise the risk of interference to the radio spectrum.

The Compliance Guide for Users of the Radio Spectrum and for Suppliers of Electrical and Radio Products [1.75 MB PDF] is available for download on this website.

The Electromagnetic Compatibility Compliance Flowchart and the Radio Compliance Flowchart [38 kB PDF] are both available here.

What is Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) compliance?

Radiocommunications can be affected by pollution, more commonly referred to as "radio frequency interference" (RFI) or "electromagnetic interference" (EMI). In turn, radio transmissions can also cause electrical and electronic products to malfunction, a response sometimes known as "immunity" or "electromagnetic susceptibility" (EMS).

The mutual interaction of radio and electrical products is known as "electromagnetic compatibility" which is usually abbreviated to EMC.

Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) compliance means that an electrical or electronic product has been tested to international standards and is unlikely to cause radio interference.

What is the EMC compliance framework in New Zealand?

A regulatory compliance framework for EMC must carefully balance the need to minimise business compliance costs with the need to effectively protect the radio spectrum resource.

The Radio Spectrum Management (RSM) group achieves this by:

• Encouraging suppliers (being manufacturers, importers, exporters and distributors) of electrical, electronic and radio products to comply with standards by providing information.
• Promoting the development and adoption of international standards.
• Promoting mutual recognition in mandatory compliance with other administrations.
• Conducting audits of products and compliance folders to ensure suppliers meet compliance requirements.
• Enforcing mandatory compliance with standards to the degree necessary to reasonably protect the radio spectrum resource.