FCC votes on proposal that would ban 21% of accredited test labs in China and Hong Kong

The Federal Communications Commission is voting on a proposal that would eliminate recognition for 126 test labs in China and Hong Kong, representing roughly 21 percent of the 591 FCC-accredited labs worldwide. The vote is scheduled for April 30, 2026. The proposal extends the "Bad Labs" rule the FCC adopted in May 2025. A broader version would also cut off labs in countries without a Mutual Recognition Agreement with the United States, adding five more labs in India and Switzerland. The affected facilities are not exclusively small local operations. Twenty-seven are subsidiaries of major Western testing conglomerates including Intertek, SGS, Bureau Veritas, TUV Rheinland, TUV SUD, UL, Eurofins, and DEKRA. These companies maintain labs globally, but their China operations exist to test products co-located with manufacturing facilities. If the ban is enacted, Taiwan would become the largest non-U.S. testing market with 98 labs. The remaining 460 labs worldwide would need to absorb testing volume currently handled by the banned facilities. The FCC does not operate its own test labs. It recognizes private labs accredited by approved bodies such as A2LA and NVLAP that meet ISO/IEC 17025 standards. Labs receive designation numbers that allow Telecommunication Certification Bodies to accept their test results and issue equipment authorization grants. Only 67 of the 591 labs are also TCBs, meaning they can both test and certify devices.