Compliance mark or label is an important part of product compliance process. This mark is a result of the long process that has been passed through in order to obtain product compliance certificate. After the certificate is obtained, manufacturer is granted a right to use conformity mark on their product. That becomes a sign that the product already complies with the applied standards. ‘Hence, it is safe and legal to use.
Compliance mark is important for manufacturer, authority, and the buyer. By obtaining it, manufacturer can add more value to the product, especially related to the marketing process. Because product with compliance mark on it, is more attractive for the buyer. For authority, by looking at the compliance mark on the product, they can decide whether this product is already legal or not to be used within their region. If what’s stated on compliance mark does not reflect the actual condition of the product, authority can easily ask the distributor to recall it due to some risk that the product possibly have. For buyer, by buying the product that has compliance mark on it, they can have a little peace of mind because the product is likely more safe to use, legal, and has minimum risk.
Compliance Mark of Australia Type Approval
ACMA stands for “Australian Communications and Media Authority”. This is the authority who issues compliance certificate for telecommunication products used or sold in Australia. The certification scheme applied through Self Declaration of Conformity or SDoC, meaning that most likely, there will be no local test involved. Once telecommunication product obtained SDoC certification from ACMA, it’s mandatory to affix RCM Label. This label is used as a sign that this product already complied with Australian regulation. Hence, it is legal to be marketed or used within the territory of Australia. Here is the format of RCM mark for your reference:
RCM mark is actually not used exclusively for telecommunication product. But this is a single mark that covers many aspects such as Safety, EMC, Telecom, and RF compliance in Australia. Normally, RCM mark is affixed on the external surface of the product, right on the sides that’s easily seen by the user. The application method can be in the form of printing, sticking, embossing, or debossing. In the case that the product size or dimension is too small so it’s not possible to affix the mark on it, it is allowed to put the RCM mark on the packaging. Regarding e-labelling, it is also allowable for devices that has built-in display. However, it is mandatory for the manufacturer to put instruction or procedure on how to access or to show the mark on the display.
Why We Care
As mentioned earlier, conformity mark is important part of Australia Type Approval Compliance Process. Without having the correct conformity mark, the product can be declared as un complied and cannot legally sell or use within the territory of Australia. Even if maybe, you have complied with the regulation but forgot to affix RCM mark on your product, you can be a subject of legal sanction too. Therefore, the Australia Type Approval certification process doesn’t stop at the certificate issuance. But, after certificate is issued, we still need to make sure that the label or mark is correctly applied according to the regulation.