FCC Seeks Additional Comments on 'Covered List' Equipment Import Ban
The Federal Communications Commission seeks additional comments on aspects of its recent order banning the import and sale of any new telecommunications equipment listed on its Covered List, which currently includes products from Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision and Dahua (see 2211300062), the FCC said in a notice published in the March 8 Federal Register.
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Among other things, the FCC seeks input on whether it should consider the potential effects of bans “where immediate implementation of a prohibition could result in supply chain problems,” such as an inability to get the banned equipment from other sources. The FCC also seeks comments on “to what extent” it should revoke already approved equipment authorizations when included under new equipment bans, as well as on a proposed requirement to require a U.S.-based “responsible party” tasked with compliance.
The FCC also seeks additional input on to what extent the ban should apply to component parts. The FCC said it “believes that certain component parts produced by entities identified on the Covered List, if included in finished products, could potentially pose an unacceptable national security risk.” But it said covering component parts “could require changes to the Commission's existing equipment authorization application process, which does not currently capture detailed information about the source of components that make up such equipment.”
The FCC’s November order prohibits any new approvals, either by way of the FCC certification or a supplier's declaration of conformity (SDoC), of equipment on the Covered List. Telecommunications devices must generally be approved in one of those two ways to be imported or sold in the U.S. Comments on the FCC's notice seeking additional input are due April 7.