The Wireless Telegraphy (Citizens' Band and Amateur Apparatus) (Various Provisions) Order 1998

Made: 14th October 1998

Laid before Parliament: 16th October 1998

Coming into force: 6th November 1998

Now, therefore, the Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 7(2) of the 1967 Act and sections 84 and 85(1) of the 1984 Act and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Order:

Citation and commencement

1

This Order may be cited as the Wireless Telegraphy (Citizens' Band and Amateur Apparatus) (Various Provisions) Order 1998 and shall come into force on 6th November 1998.

Revocation

2

The Wireless Telegraphy (Citizens' Band and Amateur Apparatus) (Various Provisions) Order 1988³ and the Wireless Telegraphy (Citizens' Band and Amateur Apparatus) (Various Provisions) (Amendment) Order 1995⁴ are hereby revoked.

Interpretation

3

In this Order—

• “the 1967 Act” means the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1967;

• “the 1984 Act” means the Telecommunications Act 1984;

• “CB apparatus” means wireless telegraphy apparatus known as “Citizens' Band” which is designed or adapted, or has facilities permitting its adaptation, for the purpose of transmitting spoken messages on the frequency band 26.1 MHz to 28 MHz;

• “EN45001 and EN45002” means European Standards (Normes Europeene) EN45001 and EN45002 published in September 1989 by the British Standards Institution;

• “ETS 300 135” means European Telecommunications Standard 300 135 published in June 1991 by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute⁵;

• “ISO guides 25 and 58” means the International Organization for Standardization Guides 25 and 58 published by the International Organization for Standardization in December 1990 and September 1993 respectively;

• “MPT 1320” means Department of Trade and Industry Performance Specification MPT 1320 published in April 1981 and revised and reprinted in May 1993 and withdrawn in December 1995;

• “MPT 1333” means Department of Trade and Industry Performance Specification MPT 1333 published in December 1986 and revised and reprinted in May 1993 and withdrawn in December 1996; and

• “MPT 1382” means Department of Trade and Industry Performance Specification MPT 1382 published in March 1995 and revised and reprinted in January 1997.

Actions restricted

4

• (1) Subject to paragraph (4) of this article, no person shall take any of the actions listed in paragraph (3) in relation to CB apparatus unless—

• (a) the CB apparatus operates in the frequency band 27.59625–27.99625 MHz and—

• (i) complies with the requirements of MPT 1320; or

• (ii) complies with the requirements of MPT 1382; or

• (iii) is approved for the time being by the Secretary of State under section 84 of the 1984 Act for the purposes of this Order,

provided that a person may have CB apparatus in his custody or control or undertake second-hand sale and advertisement of such apparatus, which operates in the frequency band 27.59625–27.99625 MHz and complies with the requirements of MPT 1320, if it was manufactured prior to 1st January 1996; or

• (b) the CB apparatus operates in the frequency band 26.960–27.410 MHz and complies with ETS 300 135 by either—

• (i) being approved for the time being by the Secretary of State under section 84 of the 1984 Act for the purposes of this Order; or

• (ii) being approved to ETS 300 135 by the national administration of a country listed in Schedule 1 following type testing at a test laboratory, which has been accredited in accordance with ISO guides 25 and 58 or EN45001 and EN45002 or a national standard conforming to ISO guides 25 and 58 or EN45001 and EN45002,

provided that a person may have CB apparatus in his custody or control or undertake second-hand sale and advertisement of such apparatus, which operates in the frequency band 26.960–27.410 MHz and complies with the requirements of MPT 1333 by being approved for the time being by the Secretary of State under section 84 of the 1984 Act for the purposes of this Order, if it was manufactured prior to 27th October 1995; or

• (c) the CB apparatus operates in the frequency bands 26.960–27.410 MHz and 27.59625–27.99625 MHz and—

• (i) complies with the requirements of MPT 1382; or

• (ii) is approved for the time being by the Secretary of State under section 84 of the 1984 Act for the purposes of this Order.

• (2) No person shall take any of the actions listed in paragraph (3)(a) and (d) of this article in relation to wireless telegraphy apparatus designed or adapted for the purpose of transmitting messages in the frequency band 28 MHz to 29.7 MHz and in no other frequency band.

• (3) The actions restricted by this article are—

• (a) manufacture (whether or not for sale);

• (b) selling or offering for sale, letting on hire or offering to let on hire, or indicating (whether by display of the apparatus or by any form of advertisement) one’s willingness to sell or let on hire;

• (c) having in one’s custody or control; and

• (d) importation.

• (4) Nothing in this article prevents having in one’s custody or control and importation of CB apparatus and importation of the wireless telegraphy apparatus specified in paragraph (2) for the sole purpose of re-export from the United Kingdom.

Marking

5

• (1) CB apparatus shall be marked in accordance with the requirements specified in Schedule 2.

• (2) No person shall, in the course of any trade or business, supply or offer to supply CB apparatus which does not comply with paragraph (1) of this article.

Channel Islands and Isle of Man

6

This Order shall not extend to the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

SCHEDULE 1

SCHEDULE 2

1

CB apparatus which complies with the requirements of—

• (a) article 4(1)(a)(i) shall be marked as follows—

• [image omitted]

• (b) article 4(1)(a)(ii) or (iii) shall be marked as follows—

• [image omitted] or [image omitted] ;

• (c) article 4(1)(b) shall be marked as follows—

• (i)

where the apparatus is manufactured before 12th June 1990 and has been approved under section 84 of the 1984 Act; or

• (ii) or

where the apparatus is manufactured on or after 12th June 1990 and has been approved under section 84 of the 1984 Act; or

• (iii) as specified in paragraph (ii) where the apparatus is manufactured on or after 1st June 1991 and has been approved in a country listed in Schedule 1 except that the symbol “GB” shall be replaced with the relevant symbol listed in that Schedule to indicate the country in which the approval has been obtained; and

• (d) article 4(1)(c) shall be marked as follows—

• [image omitted] .

2

The marks described in paragraph 1 shall—

• (a) be placed on the CB apparatus in a visible place;

• (b) be legible, tamperproof and durable; and

• (c) have a letter and figure height not less than 2 mm.

Signed

Barbara Roche — Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Small Firms, Trade and Industry, — Department of Trade and Industry — 14th October 1998

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order, which revokes and replaces the Wireless Telegraphy (Citizens' Band and Amateur Apparatus) (Various Provisions) Order 1988 (S.I. 1988/1215) and the Wireless Telegraphy (Citizens' Band and Amateur Apparatus) (Various Provisions) (Amendment) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/2588), restricts the import, manufacture, sale, hire, offer or advertisement for sale or hire, custody and control of certain specified Citizens' Band (“CB”) radio apparatus and the import and manufacture of certain specified amateur radio apparatus. The restrictions do not prevent, however, having custody or control and importation of CB apparatus and also importation of such amateur radio apparatus for the sole purpose of re-export from the United Kingdom (article 4(4)).

The CB apparatus restricted is that which is designed or adapted, or has facilities permitting its adaptation, for the purpose of transmitting spoken messages in the frequency band 26.1 MHz to 28 MHz. Within this band, CB apparatus operating in the frequency bands 26.960–27.410 MHz and 27.59625–27.99625 MHz is restricted unless it operates only on one or more of the frequencies specified in Department of Trade and Industry Performance Specifications MPT 1320 or MPT 1382 as appropriate or is type approved under section 84 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 (c. 12; “the 1984 Act”).

CB apparatus which operates solely in the frequency band 26.960–27.410 MHz has to comply with European Telecommunications Standard ETS 300 135 either by being type approved under section 84 of the 1984 Act or by being type approved in certain other specified countries in order not to be restricted. CB apparatus operating in this frequency band which was manufactured before 27th October 1995 may still be used providing it was type approved under section 84 of the 1984 Act at the time of manufacture and thus complied with either ETS 300 135 or MPT 1333. Performance Specifications MPT 1320 and MPT 1333 have now been withdrawn.

The manufacture and importation of amateur radio apparatus which operates only in the frequency band 28 MHz to 29.7 MHz is also restricted (article 4(2)).

Under article 5 of the Order, CB apparatus is required to be marked to show compliance with the requirements of the Order in the manner indicated in Schedule 2.

Under section 7 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1967 (c. 72), the Secretary of State may by authority limit the effect of the Order in the manner specified in the authority. Apparatus which is held in breach of the Order or an authority is liable to seizure and may be subject to forfeiture. A person who contravenes the Order or an authority may be guilty of an offence under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 (c. 54) and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

Copies of MPTs 1320, 1333 and 1382 may be obtained from the Radiocommunications Agency Library at New King’s Beam House, 22 Upper Ground, London SE1 9SA (Tel: 0171-211 0211).

Copies of ETS 300 135 may be obtained from the British Standards Institution, 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL (Tel: 0181-996 7000).

In addition to the requirements set out in this Order, CB and amateur apparatus which is available commercially has to comply with the requirements of the Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/2372, as amended by S.I. 1994/3080 and S.I. 1995/3180) from 1st January 1996 before being supplied or taken into service.

Footnotes