G/TBT/W/621  
 
2 April  2019 
(19-2096) Page: 1/1 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
INDIA - NEW TELECOMM UNICATIONS RELATED R ULES (DEPARTMENT OF 
TELECOMMUNICATIONS, NO. 842 -725/2005 -VAS/VOL.III (3 DECEMBER  2009);  
NO. 10 -15/2009 -AS-III/193 (18 MARCH 2010 ); AND NOS. 10 -15/20 09-
AS.III/VOL.II/(PT.)/ (25-29) (28 JULY 201 0); DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS, 
NO. 10 -15/2009 -AS.II I/VOL.II/(PT.)/(30) (28 JULY 2010) AND A CCOMPANYING 
TEMPLATE, "SECURITY AND BUSINESS CONTINU ITY AGREEMENT")  
STATEMENT BY INDIA  TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS T O TRADE  
6 AND 7  MARCH  2019 
The following communic ation, dated 2 April  2019, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of India. 
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1.  India would like to thank the delegations of the European Union, the United States, Canada and 
Japan  for their comments in the matter. This is an old STC and accordingly i n response, my 
delegation  would reiterate  some of the points already made earlier  in previous meetings.  
2.  We would like to reiterate again that the Telecom Networks are a part of the Critical Infrastructure 
on which other critical infra structures like power, transportation, defence etc. also ride. It has also 
been clarified in past that India w ould rely on the International Standards , to the extent possible. If 
a product is IT product, testing carried out against CC Process under CCRA  will be leveraged. The 
common Criteria certification does not address National Concerns on the Security requirement of 
Telecom Networks . Hence, some additional tests may be conducted, if required , in the interest of 
national security and public interest.  
3.  So far as in-country testing requirement and the security certification thereof is concerned, it is 
informed again that these guidelines cannot be considered  as trade barriers  in view of the fact that 
the in-country testing guidelines are equally applicab le to the manufacturers/vendors irrespective of 
the source of procurement including the domestic manufacturers.  Testing is carried out with the 
objective of ensuring that the radio frequency emissions from the equipment are within prescribed 
limits, the eq uipment does not degrade the performance of the network to which it is connected, 
and complies with the relevant national regulations. Quality and performance are not tested and 
certified under MTCTE. The ERs are based upon international standards with sui table modifications 
so that these are compliant with Indian requirements and regulations. The testing of telecom 
products is to be carried out in Indian Accredited Labs designated by Telecom Engineering Centre 
(TEC), called designated Conformance Assessmen t Bodies (CABs) or recognized CABs of Mutual 
Recognition Agreement (MRA) partner countries. Based upon their test reports, certificate shall be 
issued by TEC. A mechanism of surveillance is also included in the scheme.  
4.  With regard to the date  from which th e listed telecom products would require security testing, 
my delegation had informed the Members in the last TBT Committee meeting that the TEC in the 
Department of Telecom had issued a notification dated 27 September 2018, wherein the deadline 
for impleme ntation of different sets of products was mentioned. Now my delegation would like to 
inform the Members that the TEC has postponed the implementation of the measure till further 
orders.  
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