If you are a manufacturer, importer, or distributor who wants to market your product in Japan, you may check whether your product is mandatory to do type approval certification or not. Especially if the product is telecommunication products, most likely it will need Japan Type Approval certificate from MIC or Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. So, how to know is the product is subject of MIC certification or not? For your reference, here’s the explanation of it.
Basically, all telecommunication and non-telecommunication equipment operating using radio frequency, which are sold in Japan must obtain MIC certification. However, this definition is too broad. So, to make it easier, MIC classify the mandatory products into five classifications. These classifications are Specified Radio Equipment (SRE), Special Specified Radio Equipment (SSRE), Telecom Terminals, High-Frequency Devices (HFD), and Extremely Low-Power (ELP). Then, what’s the difference between each classification and what products are covered? Here’s the explanation.
Specified Radio Equipment (SRE)
This is the device that intentionally transmit radio frequency (RF) for the purpose of communications. Some devices fall into this classification are RFID readers, Zigbee-equipment, drone, Bluetooth Speaker, radio-controlled-toys, Bluetooth headphone, wireless microphone, smartphone, Wi-Fi routers, Bluetooth devices, etc.
Special Specified Radio Equipment (SSRE)
This classification is actually the subset of Specified Radio Equipment (SRE). However, SSRE devices have lower power than SRE. Therefore, these products are considered to have lower risk for causing interference. Some devices covered in this classification are Bluetooth Low Energy tracker, Low Power Equipment, Short Range Device equipment, etc.
Telecom Terminals
Telecom terminals are devices that are physically or wirelessly connected to the public telecommunication networks. Some devices fall into this classification are Analogue telephone, Fax Machine, DSL modem, LTE gateways, Smartphone, Mobile Data Terminals, IP Phone, Broadband Router, etc.
High-Frequency Devices (HFD)
Commonly, High-Frequency Devices (HFD) are not communication devices. These are devices that emit high-frequency radio signal which can be used in various fields such as industrial, medical, and scientific. Some examples are induction cookers, RF welders, industrial heating system, or Microwave Ovens.
Extremely Low-Power (ELP)
Extremely Low Power Devices or ELP are devices that transmit radio frequency signal that has power or field strength lower than Law-defined field-strength threshold. Some devices fall into these classifications are toys with BLE, RFID tags, Key fobs, etc.
Why We Care
Before distributing or selling our products to Japan, it is important to know whether the product is mandatory to do any type approval certification or not. If the product is mandatory to do Japan Type Approval certification but we don’t do it, we’ll be declared as “violating the law” and it can even bring legal consequence to us. Of course, this is the thing that we want to anticipate. So, in order to anticipate it, we need to know exactly whether our product is mandatory to do certification in Japan or not. If yes, the next step is knowing into which classification our product falls into. This is important because different product classification requires different approach and different labelling rules as well. If you find any difficulties in this process, consulting with experts is highly recommended.