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The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking updates the rules that govern the evaluation and approval of RF devices. The Commission’s proposed improvements to the equipment authorization process will help us keep pace with the accelerating introduction of an ever-expanding breadth of devices and products into the marketplace.

The Commission’s proposals build on actions it recently took to modify its equipment authorization rules. We have identified additional changes that will enable us to meet the challenges of an RF equipment ecosystem that has significantly expanded since the Commission last comprehensively reviewed its equipment authorization procedures more than 15 years ago. The manner in which today’s RF equipment is designed, manufactured, and marketed as well as the sheer number of such devices that need to be authorized warrant modifications to the rules that specify the equipment subject to the Commission’s equipment authorization procedures and responsibilities of the various stakeholders. In making these proposals, the Commission remain mindful that the equipment authorization program is one of the primary means that it uses to ensure that RF devices operating in the United States do not cause harmful interference and otherwise comply with its rules.

In the Order, the Commission takes action to temporarily waive the requirements in sections 2.1203 and 2.1205 of the Commission’s rules that govern the submission of information in connection with imported Radio Frequency (RF) devices, effective July 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016, for the reasons discussed below. Section 2.1203 of our rules states that no RF device may be imported unless the importer or ultimate consignee (or their designated customs broker) declares that the device meets the conditions of entry set forth in the Commission importation rules. Section 2.1205 provides two ways to make this declaration. At ports of entry where electronic filing with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is not available, the importer completes FCC Form 740 and attaches a copy to its customs import papers. Where electronic customs filing is available, the importer may submit the information electronically as part of its entry documentation submission to CBP. Currently, nearly all submissions are made electronically through the CBP’s Automated Commercial System (ACS), and very few paper filings are submitted.