May 22nd, 2025
New Rules Complete Bipartisan Push to Remove and Block Untrustworthy Actors from Control of Equipment Test Labs, Accreditation and Certification Bodies
-- WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission today adopted new rules to block and remove Chinese government and other untrustworthy actors’ ability to assert control over America’s wireless equipment authorization process. The rules will ensure that the hundreds of equipment test labs and telecommunications certification bodies – entities that test, review, and certify wireless electronic devices for importation, marketing, and sale in the U.S. – do not have ownership interests that present national security risks, including the risk that they would do the bidding of a foreign adversary.
The FCC requires all electronic devices that emit radio frequencies – including IoT devices, computers, fitness trackers, network gear, smartphones and baby monitors – to be authorized for use in the U.S. Each year, private entities – known as test labs, and telecommunication certification bodies (TCBs) – test tens of thousands of these devices and certify that they comply with various FCC rules, respectively. Accreditation bodies assess the test labs for competency and impartiality.
Telecommunication certification bodies, accreditation bodies, and some test labs must be recognized by the FCC to perform these functions in the agency’s process. However, prior to these new rules, the agency’s eligibility criteria has been based primarily on technical competence – not trustworthiness. While the agency has in recent years barred entities on the FCC’s Covered List from having their devices approved for use in the U.S. due to determinations that such devices pose national security risks, these new rules ensure that the accreditation and certification bodies and test labs are themselves not untrustworthy actors.
The FCC has reviewed currently recognized labs and found that a number of labs potentially have deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). These include entities that are connected to Chinese state-owned-enterprises, involved in China’s Military-Civil Fusion apparatus through their apparent work with the CCP’s People’s Liberation Army, and even entities that are themselves Chinese state actors. These labs have tested thousands of devices bound for the U.S. market over the last several years.
In addition to the Covered List, the new rules rely on official security determinations that the U.S. government has made, including the Defense Department’s List of Chinese Military Companies and Department of Commerce Entity List. back...
-- WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission today adopted new rules to block and remove Chinese government and other untrustworthy actors’ ability to assert control over America’s wireless equipment authorization process. The rules will ensure that the hundreds of equipment test labs and telecommunications certification bodies – entities that test, review, and certify wireless electronic devices for importation, marketing, and sale in the U.S. – do not have ownership interests that present national security risks, including the risk that they would do the bidding of a foreign adversary.
The FCC requires all electronic devices that emit radio frequencies – including IoT devices, computers, fitness trackers, network gear, smartphones and baby monitors – to be authorized for use in the U.S. Each year, private entities – known as test labs, and telecommunication certification bodies (TCBs) – test tens of thousands of these devices and certify that they comply with various FCC rules, respectively. Accreditation bodies assess the test labs for competency and impartiality.
Telecommunication certification bodies, accreditation bodies, and some test labs must be recognized by the FCC to perform these functions in the agency’s process. However, prior to these new rules, the agency’s eligibility criteria has been based primarily on technical competence – not trustworthiness. While the agency has in recent years barred entities on the FCC’s Covered List from having their devices approved for use in the U.S. due to determinations that such devices pose national security risks, these new rules ensure that the accreditation and certification bodies and test labs are themselves not untrustworthy actors.
The FCC has reviewed currently recognized labs and found that a number of labs potentially have deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). These include entities that are connected to Chinese state-owned-enterprises, involved in China’s Military-Civil Fusion apparatus through their apparent work with the CCP’s People’s Liberation Army, and even entities that are themselves Chinese state actors. These labs have tested thousands of devices bound for the U.S. market over the last several years.
In addition to the Covered List, the new rules rely on official security determinations that the U.S. government has made, including the Defense Department’s List of Chinese Military Companies and Department of Commerce Entity List. back...
