WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/IT/W/12/Rev.1 
23 November 2004 
 (04-5109) 
Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in 
Information Technology Products  
 
 
 
EMC/EMI PILOT PROJECT 
 
Draft Guidelines for EMC/EMI Conformity Assessment Procedures  
 
Note by the Secretariat  
 
Revision  
 
  
 
  
 
 
 At the Committee's formal meeting of 4 June 2004, the Secretariat was asked to compile 
submissions from participants regarding their wo rk in drafting "Guidelines" for EMC/EMI related 
conformity assessment procedures.  This first draf t (G/IT/W/12) was prepared and examined at the 
Committee's meeting of 19 October 2004 and a number of comments were made.  As a result of those discussions, the following revised draft has been prepared  for consideration of participants at the next 
formal meeting of the Committee. 
  For background on the issue, it is noted th at the Committee commenced  with the NTM Work 
Programme in 2000, whereby it was agreed to identif y NTMs which are impediments to trade in ITA 
products, examine the economic and developmental impact of such measures on trade, and give 
formal consideration by the Committee of  the outcomes of these two earlier phases.
1  One of the 
NTMs identified was with respect to EMC/EMI conf ormity assessment procedures, and as a result a 
"Pilot Project" was initiated.2  Two main initiatives have emanated from the Pilot Project thus far; 1) a 
survey on EMC/EMI3, and 2) a Workshop on EMC/EMI.4  As a result of the Committee's recent work 
based on these initiatives and a paper on "Best Practices for EMC/EMI Related Conformity Assessment Procedures for IT Products"
5, work has progressed to  these draft Guidelines. 
 
 
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1 G/IT/19. 
2 G/IT/SPEC/Q3/2. 
3 G/IT/22 and G/IT/SPEC/Q4/1-25. 
4 G/IT/23. 
5 G/IT/24. This document has been prepa red under the Secretariat's own 
responsibility and without prejudice to the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO G/IT/W/12/Rev.1 
Page 2  
 
 These "Guidelines" for EMC/EMI Conformity Assessment Procedures, as prepared by the Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Tr ade in Information Technology Products, are a 
result of its work undertaken in the NTM Work Pr ogramme.  Such Guidelines have no legal status nor 
do they have any implications for particip ants' rights and obligations under the WTO. 
 I. CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES FOR EMC/EMI   
 The EMC/EMI survey conducted by the Committe e identified different types of conformity 
assessment procedures used by ITA participants in respect of ITA products. They are summarized 
below in descending order of complexity: 
 
(a) Certification by a regulator or delegated entity  – the equipment has to be submitted to the 
regulator or its delegated entity for certification. 
(b) Certification by 3
rd party – the equipment has to be submitted to certification bodies 
recognized (or approved) by the regulator for certification. 
(c) Supplier's Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) type 1 – the supplier or manufacturer of the 
equipment declares the equipment meets the technical and administrative requirement. A testing laboratory recognized by the regulator tests the equipment and the supplier registers 
this equipment with the regulator. 
(d) Supplier's Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) type 2 - the supplier or manufacturer of the 
equipment declares the equipment meets the technical and administrative requirements on the 
basis of test reports by a testing laboratory reco gnized by the regulator. No registration of the 
equipment with the regulator is required. 
(e) Supplier's Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) type 3 – the supplier or manufacturer of the 
equipment declares the equipment meets the technical and administrative requirement. The supplier registers the equipment with the regul ator. Testing of the equipment by recognized 
testing laboratory is not mandatory.  If tes ting is undertaken, the choice of the testing 
laboratory rests with supplier or manufacturer. 
(f) Supplier's Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) type 4 – the supplier or manufacturer of the 
equipment declares the equipment meets the technical and administrative requirement. Registration of the equipment with the regulator  is not required and testing of the equipment 
by recognized testing laboratory is not mandatory.  If testing is undertaken, the choice of the 
testing laboratory rests with supplier or manufacturer. 
 The above is a generic description of the pro cedures. In practice, ITA participants may use 
different or alternative titles and names to describe their procedures.   
 
     
 
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II. GUIDELINES 
 
1. The types of conformity assessment proce dures for EMC/EMI used by ITA participants 
should be limited to the six procedur es listed in Section I (a to f). 
 
2. An ITA participant that has, at present , no mandatory conformity  assessment procedures 
should be encouraged to maintain the status quo.   If conformity assessment procedures are to be 
adopted, the types of procedures used should be in accordance with Guideline 1 above.  
 
3.  ITA participants using type (a) or (b) pro cedures listed in Section I should consider changing 
them to type (c), (d), (e), or (f). 6 
 
III. TRANSPARENCY 
 
 A list of ITA participants should be drawn up and categorized by the type of assessment 
procedure adopted.  The list should identify whic h type of conformity assessment procedures each 
ITA participant uses.  The Secretariat could draw up such a list based on participant input. 
 
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6 This does not preclude participants from making decisions on whether or in what form to apply EMC/EMI 
conformity assessment procedures accordi ng to their practical circumstances.