Brussels, 09/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, the European Commission announced having published a new safety standard relating to electromagnetic fields, that would make mobile phones "safer". Respect of this EN 50360 standard will guarantee that telephones will not exceed the emission limit authorised for all radio or telecommunications devices, set by a 1999 Council Regulation (1999/519/EEC). This standard is in fact already respected by most telephones (except for old models), and the Mobile Manufacturing Forum, which brings together the great majority of manufacturers, respects standards that are even more protective. The European Commission's Communication, published in the Official Journal on 26 July, has the advantage of clearly laying down this limit and being able to compare the emission levels of different telephones, Community sources explain. The standard is not formally obligatory, but should a manufacturer decide not to adapt to the standard, procedures for the placing on the market will be much more complicated, these experts explain.
The standard was established by the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) with new methods based on tests on "dummy heads" filled with test devices, the Commission points out. CENELEC should come up with other standards, covering GSM base stations or antennae, anti-theft ports used in shops and low power ratio devices.