The Ministry of Science and ICT detected 1,700 cases of forged radio wave certificates.
How to verify transmission at the Chinese BACL, not the US BACL
Hikvision, DJI, Huawei, Samsung Electronics, etc.


It was revealed that over the past 15 years, domestic and foreign companies have sold 1,700 products in violation of the Radio Waves Act.
The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 10th that it had discovered that 381 domestic and foreign manufacturers or importers had fraudulently received conformity assessments for broadcasting and communication equipment using forged test reports.

Conformity assessment is a system in which manufacturers, sellers, and importers of broadcasting and communication equipment, etc., are required to confirm and receive certification or registration to determine whether the equipment conforms to standards established to prevent radio interference and protect the human body and equipment before distributing the equipment on the market, in accordance with Article 58-2 of the Radio Waves Act.

The Ministry of Science and ICT began an investigation on May 15 after receiving a tip from a related company that some of the test report certificates that were marked as issued by the U.S. testing agency BACL (Bay Area Compliance Laboratory) were actually tested and issued in China.

The issuance of test results is a task that is strictly managed according to the law, as it requires a high level of technical examination capability, including having specialized personnel and equipment, and is conducted by a testing agency (specific city) designated in accordance with the domestic testing agency designation procedure or a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) between countries.Only those institutions (specified by the authority) are authorized to issue test results.

The Ministry of Science and ICT granted testing authority to the BACL testing laboratory in the United States, following a designation process by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), pursuant to the MRA signed with the United States in June 2005. Currently, South Korea has MRAs with only five countries: the United States, the European Union (EU), Canada, Vietnam, and Chile.

The BACL testing laboratory in China is not authorized to conduct testing, and test reports issued by unauthorized testing laboratories are invalid and violate the Radio Act.

The National Radio Research Agency (NRRA), an affiliate of the Ministry of Science and ICT, conducted a comprehensive investigation into the authenticity of all test report certificates (2006-2020) issued by BACL, a U.S.-based company, in cooperation with NIST and others, in order to receive domestic conformity assessments.

As a result, it was confirmed that a total of 1,700 test results used for the conformity assessment of 381 companies were not issued by BACL located in the United States.

The company with the most cases detected was Hikvision, with a total of 224 cases detected. This was followed by DJI (174 cases), Huawei (136 cases), Britz (64 cases), DMAC (45 cases), Lafu (37 cases), Razer (32 cases), Okin (30 cases), Samsung Electronics (23 cases), CoreEdgeNetwork (23 cases), and Dahua (21 cases).

According to the Radio Waves Act, if a conformity assessment is obtained through false or unfair means, such as forging a test report, the conformity assessment may be cancelled and the equipment may be subject to administrative measures such as confiscation. If the conformity assessment is cancelled, the equipment may not be re-evaluated for one year from the date of cancellation, and the equipment may not be manufactured, imported, or sold until the conformity assessment is re-evaluated.

The Korea Communications Commission plans to begin issuing advance notices of hearings starting November 10th for the purpose of the relevant administrative disposition, and to sequentially conduct hearings on 381 companies starting in December.

An official from the Ministry of Science and ICT said, “Forgery of test results is a serious issue that damages trust in broadcasting and communication equipment in general,” and added, “Many companies at home and abroad have been caught, and the caught equipment includes various products that are closely used in daily life, such as CCTV, Bluetooth audio devices, drones, communication equipment, and PC peripherals. Therefore, we will take strict measures in accordance with relevant laws to maintain a safe radio environment.”