India May Ban Import of Mobile Phones Not Displaying Radiation Level
The India government has shown that it is serious about the cell phone radiation health safety issue. Now, in addition to a previous directive requiring phone manufacturers to display the radiation emission levels on their phones, and a lab setup to ensure compliance, it is now requiring mobile phones being imported into the country to follow the same requirement. Here’s more…
KOLKATA: India may ban import of mobile phones that don’t display their radiation emission levels from September. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) will shortly issue a notification calling for mandatory disclosure of specific absorption rate (SAR) as a pre-condition for future handset imports, according to documents reviewed by ET.
The SAR value, which is the radiation emitted by a cellphone, will have to be displayed on mobile handsets just as the International Mobile Equipment Identity number is available on handsets imported into India.
Cellphone radiation varies from handset to handset and is measured in terms of its SAR level. Under the new handset emission rules announced last year, the radiation limit for imported handsets is pegged at a SAR value of 1.6 watts per kg (W/kg).
Industry executives present at the meeting expect the DGFT notification to come within weeks since the new handset emission rules kick in from September 1, 2013.
Samsung and Nokia representatives present in this meeting are learnt to have claimed that their new cellphones have a provision to display the revised SAR value of 1.6W/kg. But it is understood that a sizeable number of Chinese phones in circulation will need to be redesigned to meet the new radiation standards.
See full story on indiatimes.com
This, of course, contrasts with the fate of similar efforts by San Francisco officials, with regards to phones being sold in the city, when they lost a court battle with the wireless industry CTIA and had to agree to a permanent injunction against the “Right to Know” ordinance.
In the world has ever documented the impact of mobile phone on a person?