(a) The Commission may recognize designated Telecommunication Certification Bodies (TCBs) which have been designated according to the requirements of paragraphs (b) or (c) of this section to certify equipment as required under this part. Certification of equipment by a TCB shall be based on an application with all the information specified in this part. The TCB shall process the application to determine compliance with the Commission's requirements and shall issue a written grant of equipment authorization. The grant shall identify the approving TCB and the Commission as the issuing authority.

(b) In the United States, TCBs shall be accredited and designated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) under its National Voluntary Conformity Assessment Evaluation (NVCASE) program, or other recognized programs based on ISO/IEC 17065:2012, to comply with the Commission's qualification criteria for TCBs. NIST may, in accordance with its procedures, allow other appropriately qualified accrediting bodies to accredit TCBs. TCBs shall comply with the requirements in §68.162 of this part.

(c) In accordance with the terms of an effective bilateral or multilateral mutual recognition agreement or arrangement (MRA) to which the United States is a party, bodies outside the United States shall be permitted to authorize equipment in lieu of the Commission. A body in an MRA partner economy may authorize equipment to U.S. requirements only if that economy permits bodies in the United States to authorize equipment to its requirements. The authority designating these telecommunication certification bodies shall meet the following criteria.

(1) The organization accrediting the prospective telecommunication certification body shall be capable of meeting the requirements and conditions of ISO/IEC 17011:2004.

(2) The organization assessing the telecommunication certification body shall appoint a team of qualified experts to perform the assessment covering all of the elements within the scope of accreditation. For assessment of telecommunications equipment, the areas of expertise to be used during the assessment shall include, but not be limited to, electromagnetic compatibility and telecommunications equipment (wired and wireless).

(d) Incorporation by reference.

(1) The materials listed in this section are incorporated by reference in this part. These incorporations by reference were approved by the Director of the Federal Register in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. These materials are incorporated as they exist on the date of the approval, and notice of any change in these materials will be published in the Federal Register. All approved material is available for inspection at the Federal Communications Commission's Reference Information Center, located at the address of the FCC's main office indicated in 47 CFR 0.401(a), Tel: (202) 418-0270, and is available from the sources in this paragraph (d).It is also available for inspection at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of this material at NARA, call (202) 741-6030, or go to: http://www.archives.gov/federal__register/code__of__federal__regulations/ibr__locations.html.

(2) International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), IEC Central Office, 3, rue de Varembe, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland, Email: inmail@iec.ch,www.iec.ch or International Organization for Standardization (ISO), 1, ch. De la Voie-Creuse, CP 56, CH-1211, Geneva 20, Switzerland; www.iso.org; Tel.: + 41 22 749 01 11; Fax: + 41 22 733 34 30; email: central@iso.org . (ISO publications can also be purchased from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) through its NSSN operation (www.nssn.org), at Customer Service, American National Standards Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036, telephone (212) 642-4900.)

(i) ISO/IEC 17011:2004(E), “Conformity assessment—General requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies,” First Edition, 2004-09-01, IBR approved for §68.160(c).

(ii) ISO/IEC 17065:2012(E), “Conformity assessment—Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services,” First Edition, 2012-09-15.

[64 FR 4997, Feb. 2, 1999, as amended at 80 FR 33447, June 12, 2015; 85 FR 64408, Oct. 13, 2020]