Navigating Global Electronic Product Compliance: What Every Board Should Know
In an increasingly interconnected world, electronic products are subject to a complex web of compliance standards that vary by territory, product category, and intended use. For companies selling electronics across borders, compliance isn't a box-ticking exercise — it's a strategic capability that directly impacts time-to-market, cost structure, and market access.
Having navigated compliance regimes across Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Asia-Pacific for products spanning IoT devices, ATEX wearables, payment terminals, and connected energy systems, I've learned that the companies that treat compliance as a design input rather than a post-design burden are the ones that ship on time and on budget.
The compliance landscape: more fragmented than you think
Many companies — particularly startups — assume that achieving CE marking in Europe is sufficient, or that FCC approval in the US will be straightforward. The reality is considerably more complex.
Every territory has its own electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements, radio frequency (RF) spectrum allocations, safety standards, and environmental regulations. A product designed for the UK market may need significant modification for deployment in the United States, the Middle East, or Asia-Pacific — not just in documentation, but in fundamental hardware design decisions around the RF front-end, power supply, and antenna configuration.
I've seen products fail compliance testing not because the design was poor, but because nobody asked the right questions about target markets early enough in the design process.
Post-Brexit, the UK now operates its own UKCA marking regime alongside the CE framework, adding another layer of complexity for companies selling into both UK and EU markets. The standards are largely aligned, but the conformity assessment procedures and documentation requirements differ — and the transition timelines have created confusion for many manufacturers.
The key compliance frameworks
While the specific requirements vary by product type and territory, most electronic products need to address several core areas:
Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC). Products must not emit electromagnetic interference that disrupts other equipment, and must be immune to reasonable levels of interference from the environment. In the EU, this falls under the EMC Directive; in the US, under FCC Part 15. The test standards differ, and passing one does not guarantee passing the other.
Radio equipment and spectrum. Any product with wireless functionality — Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, LoRa, ISM radio — must comply with radio equipment regulations in every territory where it's sold. This means adhering to specific frequency bands, power levels, and duty cycles that vary by country. The EU Radio Equipment Directive (RED), FCC Part 15 and Part 22-27, and equivalent regulations in other territories each have their own requirements.
Product safety. Electrical safety requirements ensure products don't present shock, fire, or mechanical hazards. The Low Voltage Directive in the EU, UL standards in North America, and equivalent standards globally all need to be addressed.
Environmental and materials compliance. RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances), REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), and WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directives impose restrictions on materials used in electronic products and require end-of-life disposal provisions.
Sector-specific requirements. Products for hazardous environments need ATEX or IECEx certification. Payment devices require PCI-DSS and EMV compliance. Medical devices fall under MDR in Europe and FDA regulation in the US. Each sector adds layers of certification complexity and cost.
Common compliance pitfalls
Antenna design as an afterthought. The antenna is often the last thing designed and the first thing to cause compliance failure. Antenna placement, ground plane design, and matching network all significantly impact radiated emissions and receiver sensitivity.
Ignoring conducted emissions. Power supply design frequently causes conducted emissions failures. Switch-mode power supplies need careful filter design from the outset, not as a post-test retrofit.
MNO certification for cellular devices. Beyond regulatory compliance, cellular devices often need Mobile Network Operator (MNO) certification to operate on specific carrier networks. This can add months to the certification timeline and varies by territory.
Assuming CE equals global compliance. CE marking covers the EU market only. Every additional territory requires its own assessment, and often its own hardware or firmware variants.
Design for compliance from day one
The single most effective way to reduce compliance risk and cost is to make target-market compliance a first-class design input from the earliest stages of product development.
This means identifying target territories before the schematic is drawn. It means selecting components — particularly RF modules, antennas, and power supplies — that support the frequency bands and power limits required in all target markets. It means designing the PCB layout with EMC in mind from the start, not hoping to fix problems with shielding cans and filter components after the first round of testing.
At Ignys, we built compliance awareness into every stage of the design process. Pre-compliance testing — using near-field probes and basic conducted emissions measurements — was conducted during development, not left until the formal test submission. This approach caught issues early when they were cheap to fix, rather than late when they required board respins and delayed launches.
The board's role in compliance governance
For board members and non-executive directors, compliance might seem like a purely technical matter best left to the engineering team. It isn't. Compliance failures have direct financial, legal, and reputational consequences.
A product that fails EMC testing may need a board respin — adding months and tens of thousands of pounds to the development timeline. A product shipped without proper certification can be impounded at customs, face regulatory fines, and create product liability exposure. In regulated sectors, non-compliance can result in loss of market access entirely.
Questions boards should be asking: Has the engineering team identified all target markets and their compliance requirements? Is the compliance strategy integrated into the project plan with realistic timelines and budgets? Are pre-compliance checks being conducted during development? Who is responsible for maintaining compliance documentation and tracking regulatory changes? Is there a plan for ongoing compliance as regulations evolve?
Companies that build compliance capability as a core competence — rather than treating it as a cost to be minimised — create a genuine competitive advantage. They ship faster, enter new markets more confidently, and avoid the costly surprises that derail less disciplined competitors.