The working group will meet four to six times per year, and the goal is to complete the revisions within two years. The immunity requirement is key. Since present US commercial standards do not include immunity, additional design and testing will be needed to market products in Europe. Now is the time to consider these changes if you are designing products for the international market. By now, most of you are aware of the changes in the FCC Part 15 regulations, which went into effect in June, 1989.
Some confusion remains, however, on the test procedures.
Your EMC test lab can help you with this issue. It's well known that as the humidity drops, ESD events increase in occurrence and amplitude. The first requires filtering or diverting the currents, while the second calls for shielding. We believe this issue is increasing as an EMC problem. A side issue we've been faced with recently is the electric and magnetic fields due to nearby power lines and transformers.