US Test Report Acceptance – New Zealand

Introduction

As of March 22, 2017, the governments of the United States and New Zealand have signed exchange letters to implement Phase I of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangement for the Conformity Assessment of Telecommunication Equipment (APEC Tel MRA ) with New Zealand.   

The MRA between the US and New Zealand covers the acceptance of test reports (Phase I).

Regulatory Authority

The radio spectrum regulator of New Zealand is the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).  

MBIE’s Radio Spectrum Management site contains the following summary of the Supplier Requirements.

US test labs do not need formal designation and recognition by New Zealand in order for their test reports to meet the New Zealand EMC and radio spectrum conformity assessment procedures.     

Applicable Standards for the Declaration of Conformity

(1) The EMC and Radio standards applicable to various classes of products can be obtained from the relevant Product Compliance Gazette Notices:

Radiocommunications (EMC Standards) Notice 2019
Radiocommunications (Radio Standards) Notice 2020

(2) The levels of conformity applicable to the various classes of products can be viewed here:

Understanding Levels of Conformity

Important Note:  Test reports for products assigned the highest conformity level of 3/A3 (Group 2 industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) equipment, as defined in AS/NZS CISPR 11) must be from an accredited testing laboratory.  Test labs accredited by APLAC signatory ABs are acceptable. All current NIST Listed ABs are APLAC signatories.

About the APEC TEL MRA

The initial signing of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangement for Conformity Assessment of Telecommunications Equipment (APEC Tel MRA) took place on May 8, 1998.  Participation in the APEC Tel MRA is voluntary and includes two phases: Phase I for mutual acceptance of test reports and Phase II for certification or product approvals.  The United States has implemented the APEC Tel MRA with many countries and more are forthcoming.

For Further Information

For questions about the US-New Zealand MRA, please contact the NIST Telecom MRA Program via  mra [at] nist.gov (mra[at]nist[dot]gov).

Technical Content revised on June 4, 2021