Considerations for streamlining the FCC equipment authorization program

Certain radio frequency (RF) devices require approval by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) before they may be imported and marketed in the United States. There is growing interest in streamlining mandatory equipment approval processes for a number of reasons. This paper describes the current FCC equipment authorization requirements and a new FCC proposal to streamline and simplify its equipment approval processes, including the expansion of Declaration of Conformity to other types of equipment. The paper goes on to describe various steps taken by the FCC Laboratory staff to improve speed of service with the introduction of electronic filing and extensive use of electronic mail messages.