COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic Prompts Brazil to Adjust Certificate Renewal Process

To accommodate disruptions caused by the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, Brazil is making special allowances for the renewal (maintenance) of existing homologation certificates issued by ANATEL, the country’s regulatory agency of telecommunications equipment and electronic/electrical products.

In particular, ANATEL has temporarily changed the sample and photo requirements of the certificate renewal process. Contact us for details.

Let us know if you have concerns about the homologation status of your products in any country in Latin America.

No matter what issues arise, we will continue to work with ANATEL, and other agencies across Latin America, to ensure your products are compliant and your approval certificates remain current.

We Don’t Want to Be First

We aim to be the very best homologation consultants serving clients selling electrical, electronic, and telecommunications equipment in Latin America. Top ranked, number one. But sometimes being best means not being first — we don’t want to be “first” if that means getting it wrong.

Case in point: From time to time you may come across a report somewhere on the internet about a new regulation, or changes to an existing regulation. This might cause alarm, prompting you to ask, How will this change affect my product or the certification process?

Problem is, you can’t necessarily rely on this information. While not “fake news” (it’s not intended to deceive), the regulatory development may not be in final form. It may not even ultimately happen at all. That’s because changes to regulations frequently change themselves — and are sometimes cancelled altogether — between the stages of proposal, adoption, and effective date.

We monitor proposed regulatory changes in the LATAM countries we service. But we don’t rush to publish updates until we scrutinize them. A recent example: as part of its new Resolution 715, Brazil’s ANATEL telecommunications agency was going to allow tests reports from other countries to be used in lieu of in-country testing. Big change. Huge.

…Then at the last minute ANATEL decided to maintain the requirement of in-country testing. Unfortunately, some companies delayed applying for product approval thinking they would soon be able to use U.S. or European test reports instead of testing in Brazil. Working off uncertain information, these companies unnecessarily wasted time because ANATEL didn’t end up modifying the testing requirement.

We didn’t alert our clients and readers to this potential change because it was just that: potential change, not necessarily a sure thing. We didn’t want to be “first” to serve up half-baked information, just adding to the confusion (or indigestion).

So if you see notices of regulatory changes that concern you, contact us to confirm the information is solid. Our aim is to be the most reliable, most trustworthy LATAM homologation consultants. We don’t want to be first, if that means getting it wrong.

Brazil Launches Campaign Against Rogue Telecom Products

Talk of pirates may lead to thoughts of black flags, eye patches, and sassy parrots.

But what constitutes “piracy” has evolved with time. Today’s sellers of uncertified telecom equipment might be surprised to see themselves categorized with Blackbeard and Captain Jack Sparrow.

Consider the recent raids Brazil conducted as part of its Action Plan to Combat Piracy (known by its Portuguese acronym PACP).

On September 17, Brazil’s regulatory agency ANATEL seized 23,000 suspect telecommunications products in 11 states: Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Amazonas, Goiás, Pernambuco, Piauí, and Tocantins. The investigation is ongoing.

ANATEL oversees the homologation process to certify electronic products. It also combats the commercialization of non-homologated products (aka, “piracy”) because uncertified telecom equipment can affect telecommunications networks and their users.

Uncertified telecom products can even endanger critical operations such as aeronautical communications.

The ANATEL raids, led by 55 inspectors in 20 teams, were prompted by complaints from telecommunications manufacturers and associations about the marketing of non-certified products such as optical equipment, restricted radiation transceivers, and television set-top boxes.

Lesson: companies keep tabs on their competitors, legitimate or not — and are eager to enlist law enforcement to punish illegal competition. Distributors of illegitimate goods have to watch out not just for the government but also for frustrated legitimate competitors.

The penalties for violation of Brazil’s laws can include hearings and sanctions (although not, as far as we know, the gallows that awaited scofflaws of yore.)

And to think all this trouble is so easily avoided… Companies simply have to get their telecom equipment certified before offering it for sale.

That’s why LARCG exists. We know all about the certification process in Brazil, and throughout Latin America. That’s why many of the most trusted names in telecommunications trust us to secure the certifications they need to safely market to millions of potential customers in Latin America.

Brazil – ANATEL Warning Mark

Pursuant of ANATEL resolutions, user manuals must be written in Portuguese when the product will be sold directly to the end user. However, the manual may be written in English or Spanish if the product will not be sold to the end user. What’s more, the manual must contain:

  • Technical Information
  • Model of the Product Being Homologated
  • Warnings as shown below

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21st Annual ANATEL Product Certification Forum

The Latin American Regulatory Compliance Group will be attending this years 21st annual ANATEL Product Certification Forum located in Brasilia, Brazil. Promoted by ANATEL, this years forum will be addressing new challenges regarding telecommunication certification in Brasil, and will play host to manufacturers, laboratories, designated certification bodies and specialists. Discussions concerning major issues impacting the future of certification and approval process’ — Internet of Things, control of products not homologated, consumer protection are just a few topics of conversation.

REGISTRATION – (8:30 A.M. – 9:00 A.M.)
OPENING – (9:00 A.M. – 9:20 A.M.)
– President Speaks – 10 min.
– SOR (Mr. Vitor Elisio Goes de Oliveira Menezes) Speaks – 10 min.
1st PANEL: (9:20 A.M. – 10:30 A.M.) Internet of Things and the impact on the certification of telecommunications products
Break – 10 minutes.
2nd PANEL: (10:30 A.M. – 12:00 P.M.) – Accreditation of the assistance in the control of the spectrum: The use of licensed in
the provision of telecommunications services of collective interest.
AFTERNOON PERIOD – (2:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.)
3rd PANEL: (2:00 P.M. – 3:30 P.M.) Integrated foreign trade system (SISCOMEX) and the control of non-homologated products
Break – 10 minutes.
4th PANEL: (3:40 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.) The importance of the homologation of products for consumer’s defense

We will be providing updates as to the details of the forum in the coming days, so be sure to stay tuned for news from Brazil.

©2020 Latin America Regulatory Compliance Group, LLC