Commenter Urges Separation of Leadership Between Labs and Certification Bodies
Certification engineer W. Zhang urged the FCC to adopt “a binding requirement” that testing labs and certification bodies under the agency's equipment authorization program must “be managed by separate, independent leadership.” Zhang filed early comments Tuesday in response to a May NPRM that was part of the agency’s focus on “bad labs” (see 2505220056 and 2508120011).
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“Adopting this rule will not only strengthen the FCC’s Equipment Authorization Program but will also have a significant ripple effect internationally,” said Zhang's filing in docket 24-136. “Many FCC-recognized entities also operate under foreign regimes that currently do not require such separation.” Regulators, manufacturers and consumers “expect certification decisions to be beyond any suspicion of influence from the testing side,” Zhang said. “Without this rule, that expectation cannot be guaranteed -- and the FCC will continue to bear the reputational risk."