New Zealand / RSM / SDoC
To supply a radio or EMC product in New Zealand, a supplier follows seven steps: meet the standards, prepare a product description, decide on product testing, complete a Supplier Declaration of Conformity (SDoC), gather the product documentation, become a registered supplier and label the product.
Last updated 29 September 2026 · By Vas Parshin and Anabel Amar
Before electrical, electronic or radio products can be supplied in New Zealand, they must meet the standards set out in the radiocommunications regulations.
Those standards are described in two notices: the Radiocommunications (EMC standards) Notice 2019 for electrical and electronic products, and the Radiocommunications (Radio Standards) Notice 2025 for radio products.
Each notice gives a conformity level for each class of product; under the Radio Standards Notice 2025, all radio products, regardless of conformity level, must also comply with the Unwanted Emissions Limits.
Conformity requirements are based on the potential radio frequency interference of a particular product.
Source: RSM, Step 1: Make sure your product meets the standards; RSM, Step 3: Make a decision about product testing.
Levels 1, 2 and 3 are for EMC products and a small number of radio products that are harmonised with Australia; levels A1, A2 and A3 are for the majority of radio products supplied in the New Zealand market.
For level 1, 2, A1 and A2 products, a test report or other reasonable documented evidence, like a manufacturer's specification, can show compliance with an applicable standard.
For level 3 and A3 products, the evidence has to be a test report from an accredited laboratory, in New Zealand or overseas.
New Zealand accepts accredited test reports from the European Community, Singapore, Taiwan and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Group (APEC), and products can be tested at any accredited test lab around the world.
Source: RSM, Step 3: Make a decision about product testing.
To certify that a product meets all compliance requirements, the supplier completes a Supplier Declaration of Conformity (SDoC), and each product, or significant variation of a product, needs an SDoC.
In New Zealand, a Supplier Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) must contain the product description and a statement noting that the product complies with the required standards under the New Zealand Radiocommunications Act 1989.
Whoever signs the SDoC must have seen evidence to support the product's compliance.
An overseas manufacturer or supplier can ask a New Zealand-based agent to sign and certify the product.
Variants of a basic device can go on the market under one SDoC.
Products supplied in accordance with the Radiocommunications Regulations (Mutual Recognition: Australia) Notice 2008 do not need a New Zealand declaration of conformity.
Source: RSM, Step 4: Complete a declaration of conformity.
The product description must have enough information for a person to determine whether the product is the same as a product for which a declaration of conformity was prepared.
The supplier must have, for every product, a product description, a signed SDoC and a test report or other documented evidence of conformity.
Test reports must be in English, and compliance documentation has to be kept for a further five years after a product stops being supplied.
A clear copy of the original test report is fine.
If a supplier is audited, this information is what the Radio Investigator will use to check for evidence of compliance.
Source: RSM, Step 2: Prepare a product description; RSM, Step 5: Gather your product documentation; RSM, Step 3: Make a decision about product testing.
Before supplying products to the market, a supplier needs to register as a responsible supplier with the Electrical Regulatory Authorities Council (ERAC), and registering is free.
A supplier can be an importer, a distributor, a manufacturer, an installer or a seller, and the rules are the same for products supplied through websites or online auction sites to reach the NZ market.
Supplying radio transmitting equipment in New Zealand also needs a licence, as well as being a registered supplier; the licence stays active indefinitely and does not allow the holder to transmit radio communications.
Source: RSM, Step 6: Become a registered supplier.
Products must be labelled with a compliance mark before they can be supplied to the market.
For radiocommunications and EMC products where the level of conformity is 1, 2 or 3, the RCM is used; a radio transmitter in a class where the level of conformity is A1, A2 or A3 uses the R-NZ compliance mark, not the RCM.
Registering with ERAC gives the right to use the RCM compliance mark and R-NZ label.
Labels must be legibly and durably applied on an external surface of a product, and at least 3mm in height for the compliance mark or the characters R-NZ.
If a product has a built-in display, it can be labelled electronically, as long as the documentation accompanying the product explains how the compliance mark is applied and the mark is applied in a way that would make it difficult to delete, modify, or prevent it displaying.
Source: RSM, Step 7: Label your products; RSM, Step 6: Become a registered supplier.
The work is mostly paperwork that has to be right before the first unit is supplied: which notice and level cover the product, whether the evidence on file is enough for that level, who signs the declaration, and which mark goes on the label.
We check a product against these steps as part of the same market-access review we run for other markets, so the declaration, the test evidence and the label are settled before stock arrives.
Contact usThe supplier can sign it, someone with authority in the organisation can sign it, or a New Zealand-based agent of an overseas manufacturer or supplier can sign and certify the product, and whoever signs must have seen evidence to support the product's compliance.
A test report from an accredited laboratory is needed for level 3 and A3 products; for level 1, 2, A1 and A2 products, a test report or other reasonable documented evidence, like a manufacturer's specification, proving compliance with an applicable standard.
The RCM for radiocommunications and EMC products at conformity level 1, 2 or 3, and the R-NZ for a radio transmitter at conformity level A1, A2 or A3.
Source: RSM, Step 4: Complete a declaration of conformity; RSM, Step 3: Make a decision about product testing; RSM, Step 7: Label your products.