Serbia Proposes a Draft Regulation on Radio Equipment

This blog was originally posted on 3rd October, 2023. Further regulatory developments may have occurred after publication. To keep up-to-date with the latest compliance news, sign up to our newsletter.

AUTHORED BY ANI NOZADZE, REGULATORY & REQUIREMENTS COMPLIANCE SPECIALIST, COMPLIANCE & RISKS

Serbia: Radio Equipment, Draft Pravilnik, September 2023

On 4 September 2023, The Ministry of Information and Communications of Serbia proposed a draft Pravilnik on Radio Equipment which was published for public consultation on the website of RATEL – the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Postal Services.

What is in Scope?

The draft sets out requirements in relation to radio equipment, inter alia, categories of radio equipment, compliance of combinations of radio equipment and software, registration, assessment of compliance, putting the equipment into use, etc.

The draft Pravilnik applies to radio equipment in general, but the following equipment is exempt:

Radio equipment used by radio amateurs;
Marine equipment;
Aviation equipment;
Made-to-order assessment kits for use in research and development;
Radio equipment used exclusively for activities relating to public safety, defense, state security and state activities in the field of criminal law.

Requirements

Article 4 of the draft stipulates essential requirements for radio equipment, which must be manufactured to ensure protection of health and safety of people, domestic animals and property, as well as ensuring the appropriate level of electromagnetic compatibility in accordance with the relevant regulation. Further requirements apply to certain categories of radio equipment.

In conformity with the EU common charger requirements, radio equipment must be compatible with USB-C charger and consumers must be given the choice to purchase radio equipment without a charging device. Article 7 requires manufacturers to register types of radio equipment within the categories of equipment to which a low level of compliance with the essential requirements (set out in Article 4) applies.

The draft Pravilnik states that radio equipment can be made available on the Serbian market only if it complies with the provisions of the Pravilnik.

Obligations on Manufacturers

Obligations of manufacturers are set out in detail in Chapter II and are similar to the EU Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU. These include the following:

Ensuring the equipment meets the essential requirements as per Article 4 of the Pravilnik;
Creating technical documentation as per Article 22 of the Pravilnik and implementing appropriate conformity assessment procedures as per Article 18 of the Pravilnik (or having it implemented);
When conformity is proved – drawing up a declaration of conformity and affixing a mark of conformity (until Serbia joins the EU, this shall be the Serbian mark of conformity whilst after joining the EU, this shall be the CE mark);
Keeping technical documentation and the declaration of conformity 10 years from the date of placing the equipment on the market, etc.