EMC Directive updated as EU brings common framework approach to nine Directives

The regulations were reviewed following a consultation period and the European Community issued a new Directive in 2004, which eventually came into force in the UK in July 2009. Now, it's time for those in the electronics industry to get to grips with another update to the legislation. But this time, it's more about the administrative details. Nevertheless, the update is likely to trip a few companies up. Pete Dorey, senior EMC consultant with TUV SUD Product Service, said: "It's not just about an update to the EMC Directive; it's part of the EU's New Legislative Framework (NLF). This is a common approach to the marking of goods and to member states' obligations." Dorey said some countries had been applying the Directives well; others were not so good. "The NLF is levelling the playing field regarding how Directives are implemented. It address things like CE marking and tightens the administrative side of things." The EU says the changes have been made because the current rules have been developed gradually over the last 40 years, resulting in some discrepancy in sectoral requirements. Complex products, it says fall under the scope of several sectoral rules, creating difficulties for economic operators. With the NLF, these discrepancies are eliminated. So called 'economic operators' – such as distributors and importers – can now provide one declaration of conformity per product, with uniform labelling and traceability requirements. Adrian Monk, principal EMC team leader with ERA Technology, said the EMC Directive wasn't due to be revised, but the NLF had been introduced to improve market surveillance and enforcement. "There hasn't been a great deal of enforcement in place," he suggested, "and the powers available haven't been used as effectively as some might have wanted." He also pointed out that the EU's treaty has changed. "The EU can now publish regulations and everyone has to comply." The NLF is on the EU's books as decision number 768/2008/EC. As such, the legislation attempts to address a number of issues, including: common definitions; common conformity assessment procedures; obligations for economic operators; rules for the use of the EC marking; notification criteria for the conformity assessment bodies; and safeguard procedures. According to the EU, the decision establishes clear definitions of fundamental concepts such as 'manufacturer', 'distributor', 'importer', 'harmonised standard', 'placing on the market' and 'conformity assessment'. By establishing explicit, single definitions, the EU says it will be easier to interpret future laws and apply them correctly. What the NLF does is to provide umbrella legislation for nine existing Directives; not only the EMC Directive, but also the Low Voltage and Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment (RTTE) Directives. Dorey pointed out: "The changes to the RTTE Directive will see all telecoms products removed from that Directive and placed instead under the EMC Directive. RTTE will, in the future, become the Radio Equipment Directive. This means there will need to be suitable standards available in the EMC Directive which can be applied to telecom products." So far, so good, you might think, with the good news that, in Dorey's opinion, the NLF will have 'little impact on the technical side of things'. If you're involved with the admin sides of things, you might need to take a closer look at what the NLF calls for. The latest EMC Directive – 2014/30/EU – was published on 26 February 2014. "Once Directives are issued by the EU," Dorey continued, "member states have a little time for them to be put into legislation. In this case, the UK has to do so by 19 April 2016. On 20 April 2016, the current legislation will be withdrawn." For the short term, manufacturers looking to certify their products to the new EMC Directive will find themselves in something of a limbo. "If you're following due diligence," Monk said, "you can still self declare to the current Directive, provided you will make no changes to the apparatus in question. If you make a change or are forced to make a change because of a change in the standards, then you will have to declare to the new Directive." Dorey pointed out a small problem. "While manufacturers will have to choice of continuing with the existing Directive or changing to the new one, they can't make that decision until legislation is published in the UK – and we don't know when that will be. But once the regulations are published, manufacturers can use either." However, as some countries will move more quickly, manufacturers may want to publish two Declarations of Conformance (DoC) that cite each issue of the Directive. In terms of the scope of the EMC Directive, there are some small changes. For example, second hand equipment is now included and a loophole regarding imported equipment has been closed. Monk explained the significance of the latter move. "Manufacturers are responsible for equipment that is aimed at the European market, but what happens when an overseas manufacturer didn't intend that? If someone imports that equipment, they now have to take responsibility." And this is where the NLF starts to use language more familiar to lawyers. "The regulations use phrases like 'importers shall only ...' and 'distributors shall act with care'," Monk noted. "There is now a due diligence requirement on them to ensure the equipment they are putting on the market complies with legislation." Dorey added: "Economic operators will how have a duty to keep records of who they bought products from and who they sold them to for 10 years." Importers will have to retain a copy of the DoC, check the products are correctly CE marked and that the technical declaration is available. The importer will also have to add their name and postal address to the product and this information should not replace the manufacturer's details. There is also a new requirement for the DoC to be updated continuously. "However," said Dorey, "there is no definition of what this means." His advice is to update a DoC when: there is a relevant change in standards; there is a change of manufacturer's address; or the product is modified in any way that might affect compliance, such as new components or a change to the materials used. "Consequently," he added, "the Directive now requires that the DoC must include a reference to the product, type, batch or serial number." Monk noted the CE mark is now trademarked, so there is protection in law against false marking. "The DoC statement must now be multilingual," he added. "The relevant article says that evidence must be provided in a language that can be easily understood by that authority, so it will probably need to be provided in French, German, Italian and Spanish, as well as in English." "There are still design problems with EMC," Dorey concluded. "People still have to fix kit, but EMC is less of a 'black art' than it used to be. We still run a lot of training courses and they're well attended, so there's still the need for knowledge."