TUV Rheinland has extended its global independent inspection, testing and certification (TIC) credentials in two of the Asia-Pacific region’s most important markets – India and China – with the addition of a string of American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) and the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approvals.
TUV Rheinland India has become the first TIC laboratory in India to receive A2LA accreditation and be listed by the FCC to perform EMI, EMC and Wireless testing and certification locally according to North American market standards. TUV Rheinland’s EMC laboratories in Guangzhou and Shanghai have also received A2LA accreditation and FCC approval.
The laboratories cover a wide range of products. For example, the Guangzhou lab tests everything from information technology equipment (ITE) to industrial, scientific and medical equipment (ISM), household appliances, electric tools, lighting, sound and television broadcast receivers and RF equipment.
“Our Guangzhou laboratory is accredited in accordance with the recognized International Standard ISO/IEC 17025:2005-08 General Requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. This key accreditation demonstrates the technical competence for a defined scope and the operation of a laboratory quality management system which is essential to gain entry to international markets and retain customer and consumer confidence,” said Holger Kunz, executive VP, products at TUV Rheinland.
This development follows the introduction of the FCC’s DA-17-274A1 document in March (2017), which details the expansion of A2LA’s scope of FCC recognition to include the accreditation of testing laboratories located in non-Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) countries, including India, the People’s Republic of China, the Philippines, and Thailand.
“Mutual Recognition Agreements are government-to-government trade facilitation measures aimed at creating a global approach to conformity assessment. Without the necessary MRA in place with the US, it is simply not possible for labs in many countries to perform Declaration of Conformity (DoC) and Certification testing in Wireless, EMI and EMC to demonstrate conformance with FCC regulations,” explained Kalyan Varma, VP, products, TUV Rheinland India. “With this milestone A2LA achievement, along with other necessary accreditations like NABL-17025:2005-08in place, TUV Rheinland’s laboratories in India and Greater China can help customers conduct all the short- and long-range wireless, EMI and EMC testing and certification services required for products aimed at the North American market.”
The American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) is a non-profit, non-governmental, public service, membership society. It is the only independent, non-profit, internationally-recognized accreditation body in North America to offer a full range of comprehensive laboratory and laboratory-related accreditation services and training.