An overview of NOM-001-SCFI-2018

On 14th August 2020, the new Mexican safety standard NOM 001-SCFI-2018 for “Electronic Devices – Safety Requirements and Test Methods“  will be officially implemented, replacing the existing Mexican safety standard, NOM-001-SCFI-1993 standard.

Initially published in 2019, NOM-001-SCFI-2018 was due to come into force on 14th May 2020, but was delayed due to the impact of Covid-19 meaning that Mexican laboratories and certification bodies were struggling to be accredited in time to issue test reports and approvals in line with the new standard.

With accreditations now in place, the new standard will come into force this week. We have summarised the key details you need to know below.

The new NOM-001-SCFI-2018 standard takes IEC 60065 as a reference, with elements of IEC 60335 additionally for testing. NOM-001-SCFI-2018 specifies the safety requirements and test methods for various electronic equipment and its accessories which are powered by electric power of public networks, with single-phase supply voltages up to 277 V AC at 60 Hz and/or three-phase voltages up to 480 V AC. NOM-001-SCFI-2018 also covers sources of energy such as batteries, accumulators and alternative power sources up to 500 V DC. The standard now also covers equipment powered by solar energy.

Equipment previously falling under NOM-019-SCFI-1998 now also falls under this standard.

Like NOM-001-SCFI-1993, a wide range of equipment is covered by NOM-001-SCFI-2018. Equipment specified at present can be seen in a non-exhaustive list below:

·        Radio receivers of one or more commercial frequency bands and one or more carrier modulation modalities
·        Audio-visual equipment
·        Alarm and video surveillance systems
·        Electronic musical instruments   
·        Electronic toys
·        Communication systems
·        Microwave ovens  

The above list is non-exhaustive and additional product types are being added on an ongoing basis.

NOM-001-SCFI-2018 also applies to external power supplies, which are used in conjunction with the electronic equipment falling under this standard. DC power supplies up to 250 V and AC power supplies up to 480 V at 60 Hz, which are marketed, distributed or supplied individually or in the same packaging as electronic equipment falling under NOM-001-SCFI-2018, fall under this standard.

As of today (11th August 2020), Mexican certification bodies will no longer be accepting applications under the old standard, NOM-001-SCFI-1993.

Equipment with a valid approval issued under the NOM-001-SCFI-1993 standard does not require a re-approval before the new standard is implemented. Existing approvals remain valid until the point of expiry, when they must be updated to the new NOM-001-SCFI-2018 standard.

NOM-001-SCFI-2018 will also introduce more rigorous local testing, with different testing process and protocols depending on equipment type. Testing is now also destructive, meaning sample returns following test will no longer be an option. Exact test requirements are evaluated based on the HS Code.

It is also anticipated that the lead time for issuance of approvals and test reports will increase. At present, Mexican regulators are seeing delays due to the impact of Covid-19 additionally, so the final lead time for approvals to NOM-001-SCFI-2018 remains to be seen following implementation.