In the first quarter of this year, the FCC published Summary of Key Changes in the Report and Order FCC 14-208 (see the attached pdf for your reference).
A point to recall is that FCC will require test labs to be accredited in order to perform FCC Certification or DoC Testing. Accredited laboratories, undergo a stringent accreditation process to the requirements of ISO 17025. Now, the FCC and TCB’s will NOT be accepting test data from listed laboratories for FCC Certifications or DoC reports either international labs from countries with no MRA.
Where this change is likely to have its strongest impact is on the use of international testing laboratories. The same accreditation requirements will apply for international laboratories. In the future, unless the country the lab is located in has an MRA (Mutual Recognition Agreement) in place with the FCC, such as EU, Japan and a few other countries, or has laboratories recognized as accredited by the FCC commission, they will no longer be able to provide test data that will be accepted for Certifications or DoC’s.
It’s important to note that this change does not apply for FCC Verification testing, which is the level of testing required for electric products that do not intentionally transmit wireless data or feature the FCC logo on its product packaging. In those instances, listed labs can continue to provide the verification testing.
The Order becomes effective after 30 days of being printed in the federal register. All labs that are currently not accredited will have a 1 year grace period to achieve accreditation. The FCC will allow data from listed labs for a grace period of 15 months.