TÜV Rheinland Blog - Insights from Asia and Africa

New Radio Equipment Directive (RED)

Posted by TUV Rheinland on Jun 23, 2017 2:14:26 PM
TUV Rheinland

In 2014, the European Union (EU) adopted a new set of rules called Radio Equipment Directive (RED) 2014/53/EU.

This directive is required in order to place radio equipment on the European market and put them into service. EU Member States had to adapt their national laws and apply its provision from June 13th, 2016. This was also the date of repeal for the then-current Radio & Telecommunications Terminal Equipment Directive (R&TTE-Directive, 1999/5/EC). Manufacturers who are compliant with the existing legislation (R&TTE, LV or EMC-Directive) will have until June 13th, 2017 to comply with the RED, which brings the Directive in line with the new legislative framework.

Major Changes

The former R&TTED covered relevant components of radio equipment excluding broadcast TV & radio receivers. The new RED applies to the following equipment:

  • Equipment that intentionally transmits or receives radio waves for communications or radio-determination, regardless of its primary function, and which is placed on the market
  • Radio equipment operating at frequencies below 3,000 GHz, including that is operating below 9 kHz that is not covered by the R&TTED or by national frequency regulations
  • Radio-determination equipment, which is equipment that uses the propagation qualities of radio waves to determine its position
  Broadcast TV & Radio
The R&TTED specifically excluded Broadcast TV & radio receivers from its scope. These are now included in the scope of the RED. For example, a product which uses an embedded radio module for communications or to determine its position has to meet the same radio requirements as ‘real’ radio equipment.
     
  Wired Telecommunications
‘Wired’ telecommunications terminal equipment does not have “radio” and are no longer covered by the Radio Equipment Directive. They are instead covered by the Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (EMC) and Low-Voltage Directives (LVD). In turn, radio equipment covered by the RED is not subjected to the EMCD or LVD, as the essential requirements of those directives are covered by the essential requirements of RED (with certain modifications).
     
  Safety Assessment
Under the new RED, a safety assessment must now take into account reasonably foreseeable usage conditions. This means that a manufacturer must consider a potential misuse of the equipment, not just the intended use as outlined in the equipment’s instructions. 
     
  Spectrum
The RED puts some weight on the efficient and effective use of the spectrum. Radio equipment needs to demonstrate the performance of its broadcast receiver and transmitter parts, as both are considered to affect the efficient and effective use of the spectrum.
     
  Suppliers
The RED also includes much clearer obligations for the equipment operators to identify who has supplied them with radio equipment and to whom they have supplied radio equipment.

Other changes include:

  • The use of proper languages for the Declaration of Conformity (DoC)
  • Requiring a full DOC be made available, including all information on DOC or simplified DOC via web address/link where a full version can be obtained
  • Instructions for product in an easily understood language
  • New responsibilities for importers to perform sample testing of radio products made available on the market 

More information

 

Topics: radio equipment