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PUBLISHER'S LETTER
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD
Editor
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2 Silicon Chip
EMC regulations a
disadvantage for Australia
Over the last year or so there has been considerable anguish in the Australian electronics
industry over the complexity and costs of
complying with the new EMC standards. In
essence, these EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) regulations appear to have been introduced with little consultation with industry.
If there had been widespread consultation,
the overwhelming reaction would have been
that we don’t want or need these regulations.
The real problem with these regulations
is that they closely follow the European standards which appear to have been
framed to make it as difficult as possible for countries outside Europe to get
their products in.
If Australia was a major exporter of electronic and electrical products to Europe there might be some point in adopting these standards but we’re not. And
those Australian manufacturers who do export to Europe will automatically
comply with European standards anyway.
This is the same story as with the proposed reduction of mains voltage in
Australia from 240VAC to 230VAC. We wrote about this in the April and May
1994. That will still happen by the way but there will be no benefit to Australia,
only costs.
What’s in the new EMC regulations for Australian consumers? As far as we
can see, very little. All electrical and electronic products being sold in Australia
now must comply with the new standards and that means that they will either
be dearer than they otherwise would have been or they will be withdrawn
from sale, to avoid the costs of compliance. In the meantime, big and small
Australian companies, whether they are exporting or not, still must bear the
costs of compliance.
There is also some anecdotal evidence that imported products which supposedly do comply with the standards actually produce quite high levels of
interference. However, it seems that the bureaucrats are more interested in
checking the paperwork to see that products have been approved than whether
approved products actually produce interference. That stands to reason, doesn’t
it? Their thinking would be, “If it’s approved, it must be OK”.
By the way, I am all for EMC regulations but we don’t need the draconian
regulations we have now. And nor, interestingly enough, does the USA. They
have not moved to meet European standards and why should they? They have
their own set of regulations set by the FCC and other bodies and they are quite
adequate. And so were our previous standards but they were not enforced.
I believe that ultimately the whole process of EMC enforcement is in danger
of falling into a heap. Unless the Spectrum Management Authority, now merged
into Australian Communications Authority, has the staff to actually check that
approved products radiate low levels of interference or are not subject to interference, then there is not much point in having the regulations in the first place.
In fact, it is highly likely that the ACA does not have enough staff to even
check that all the electronic and electrical products being sold in Australia
actually are backed with the paperwork to show they comply. To do so, they
will need to audit each and every business in Australia involved in importing,
distribution or retailing. That’s an enormous task.
The big problem for Australia in all this is that there are not enough organisations or individuals in Australia who are willing to speak out against these
initiatives when they are first mooted. We spoke out against the initiative to
reduce the 240VAC mains voltage but the response was a big yawn. Well, Australia will pay dearly, just as we will for these EMC regulations.
If you want to find out more about EMC you can check it out on the Internet
at http//www.aca.gov.au
Leo Simpson
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