WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/IT/W/12/Rev.2 
10 December 2004 
 (04-5452) 
Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in 
Information Technology Products  
 
  
EMC/EMI PILOT PROJECT 
 
Draft Guidelines for EMC/EMI C onformity 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 work  in drafting "Guidelines" for EMC/EMI related 
conformity assessment procedures.  The first draft (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, a revised draft (G/IT/W/12/Rev.1) was pr epared and considered at the 3 December 2004  
formal meeting of the Committee.  Following these latest discussions, one more change was proposed 
and requested to be incorporated in these Guidelines  which is now reflected in this latest version of 
the document. 
  For background on the issue, it is noted that the Committee commenced with the NTM Work 
Programme in 2000, whereby it was agreed to iden tify 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 fr om 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 "Bes t 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 prepared 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.2 
Page 2  
 
  These "Guidelines" for EMC/EMI Conformity A ssessment Procedures, as prepared by the 
Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in Informa tion Technology Products, are a 
result of its work undertaken in the NTM Work Programme.  Such Guidelines have no legal status nor 
do they have any implications for participants' rights and obligations under the WTO. 
 
I. CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES FOR EMC/EMI  
 
 The EMC/EMI survey conducted by the Commi ttee identified different types of conformity 
assessment procedures used by ITA participants in respect of ITA produc ts. 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 te chnical 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) ty pe 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 te chnical and administrative requirement. The 
supplier registers the equipment with the regula tor. 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 proc edures. In practice, ITA participants may use 
different or alternative titles and na mes to describe their procedures. 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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II. GUIDELINES 
 1. The types of conformity assessment procedures for EMC/EMI used by ITA participants 
should be limited to the six procedures 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) procedur es 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 dr aw 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, listed under Section I, according to their practical circumstances.