Hi Don, Taiwan is indeed a member of APEC. The APEC MRA covers only Telecommunications equipment. There is a separate agreement between the US and Taiwan to have ITE included in the scope of the agreement between the 2 countries. There are still a number of details that still have to be worked out BUT the Telecommunications Certification Bodies (TCB's) that will be designated will not necessarily be able to do testing for BCIQ certification. The TCB program will take some time to be implemented, especially since there are no accreditors officially designated at this time. The only accreditor that audits to the required ISO Guide is ANSI. NIST will designate them for accreditation purposes but must also look into other venues.
NVLAP has a MRA with other accrediting bodies that are also members of APLAC (a council of Accrediting bodies operating around the Pacific Rim). BCIQ is not recognized by APLAC because they are not accredited to ISO Guide 58. CNLA (an accrediting body in Taiwan) is a member of APLAC and as such are recognized by NVLAP. The FCC has not, as yet, indicated that CNLA accreditation is acceptable for FCC DoC reports, so that program is sort of in limbo. BCIQ has stipulated that they will accept a NVLAP accreditation to BCIQ requirements but have not yet produced a list of requirements. Additionally, BCIQ recently found out that the arrangement is not reciprocal, and cannot be as they are not Guide 58 certified. It is all very confusing, and everything is up in the air at the moment but something should break in the very near future. The US-EU MRA is currently in its Transition period, it entered into force on December 1, 1998. A number of US labs have already been designated as Conformity Assessment Bodies (lingo unique to this particular MRA). There are some details that are still being worked out, but we are moving ahead with the program. I started this note to try and clarify some stuff, I'm not certain that I haven't confused the issue even more. If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call. Best Regards, Barbara _______________________________________ Barbara L. Judge Compliance Certification Services 1366 Bordeaux Drive Sunnyvale, CA 94089 408-752-8166 ext.104 Fax: 408-752-8168 e-mail: [email protected] http://www.ccsemc.com > -----Original Message----- > From: UMBDENSTOCK, DON [SMTP:[email protected]] > Sent: Monday, January 11, 1999 5:02 AM > To: 'emc-pstc list server'; 'Gary McInturff' > Subject: RE: BCIQ > > The FCC issued a Report and Order (98-338) announcing a MRA with the > EC and > APEC on December 23. We should expect to see a number of labs become > "certified" shortly, allowing them to provide a broad array of > international > testing services. I presume that Taiwan is part of APEC. > > Don Umbdenstock > Sensormatic > > > ---------- > > From: Gary McInturff[SMTP:[email protected]] > > Reply To: Gary McInturff > > Sent: Friday, January 08, 1999 7:56 PM > > To: 'emc-pstc list server' > > Subject: BCIQ > > > > Anybody have any new information on Taiwan's acceptance of data from > US > > certified labs? > > As I understand it with the exception of a very few labs here in the > > states > > (Canada as well maybe) which have a private contracts with Taiwan, > there > > is > > no acceptance of data by Taiwan from FCC Nist certfied labs. In > other > > words > > still not MRU between countries to accept each others labs and data? > > Thanks > > Gary > > > > --------- > > This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. > > To cancel your subscription, send mail to [email protected] > > with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the > > quotes). For help, send mail to [email protected], > > [email protected], [email protected], or > > [email protected] (the list administrators). > > > > --------- > This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. > To cancel your subscription, send mail to [email protected] > with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the > quotes). For help, send mail to [email protected], > [email protected], [email protected], or > [email protected] (the list administrators). --------- This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. To cancel your subscription, send mail to [email protected] with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the quotes). For help, send mail to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected] (the list administrators).
