Important notice – regarding Certification Body Statements

Below is shown an extract from the ACMA website as of the 28th of March 2018. As we have been receiving a number of queries from clients as to what this all means, I thought it was timely to try and explain it in simple terms.

When supplying telecommunication devices onto the Australian market there are specific standards/requirements that must be met:

Where an endorsed test report to a high risk standard such as S042 is required and there are no accredited facilities to provide an accredited report, a Certification Body Statement (CBS) is required. A Certification Body Statement can also be issued where a supplier would like reassurance that a specific product and associated documentation meets the Australian Technical Standards.

As of the 1st of January 2018 JAS-ANZ  has taken on the role as the approving body and currently there is only one (1) Certification Body that can issue Certification Body Statements under the Telecommunication Equipment Certification scheme (TECs), being Comtest Certification Body (CCB).

Now expired and up until 31st of December 2017 the ACMA was the approving body for Certification Bodies and there were four (4) Certification Bodies listed who were accredited to issue Certification Body Statements (CBS), these accreditations are no longer valid (see expiry date column).  

If you require further information or assistance regarding your telecommunication equipment please contact at email comtest@comtest.com.au or telephone +613 96455933.  

JAS-ANZ as an approving body

On 27 February 2017, the ACMA made the Telecommunications (Approving Body) Determination 2017 (the Determination) specifying the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) as an approving body for the purposes of section 410 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 (the Act).

As an approving body, JAS-ANZ has the responsibility for determining a specified person or association is a certification body for the purposes of Division 7 of Part 21 of the Act (relating to the compliance and labelling of customer equipment and customer cabling).

The Determination is supplemented by the Telecommunications Equipment Certification Scheme (the TECS) which sets out the requirements for the assessment of applications for a determination as a certification body. The TECS also contains requirements in relation to the operation of certification bodies.

Certification bodies determined by JAS-ANZ

JAS-ANZ, acting as an approving body under subsection 410(1) of the Act, has determined the following as certification bodies for product certification to AS/NZS ISO/IEC 17065 under the Telecommunications Equipment Certification Scheme, and for the purposes of Division 7 of Part 21 of the Act.

Certification bodies previously determined by the ACMA

Prior to the appointment of JAS-ANZ as the approving body, the Executive Manager of the Operations, Services & Technologies Branch of the ACMA (EM/OSTB) was the approving body for certification bodies. All certification body determinations made by EM/OSTB expired on 31 December 2017.  Since 1 January 2018, statements of compliance are only permitted to be issued by organisations determined to be a certification body by JAS-ANZ. The following information about certification bodies is provided for historical reference only.

The Executive Manager, Operations, Services & Technologies Branch, ACMA, acting as an approving body under subsection 410(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997 has determined the following as certification bodies for the purposes of Division 7 of Part 21 of the Act.