Again and again we receive queries about the status and applicability of IEC 62368-1, which contains safety requirements regarding equipment for audio/video, information and communication technology.
As you may know, the HAS-Consultant was commissioned by the EU Commission to evaluate whether EN IEC 62368-1:2020-03 meets the requirements of the Standardization Regulation 1025/2012 according to Art. 10 (5) – i.e. whether it sufficiently covers the protection objectives of the harmonization legislation. Although HAS consultants had raised numerous (119, to be precise) objections to this assessment, the European standardization organization CENELEC had a plan to get this version published as a European amendment to EN IEC 62368-1:2020-03 anyway, so that the 3rd edition could be published in the Official Journal under both the Low Voltage (2014/35/EU) and the Radio Equipment (2014/53/EU) Directives.
This plan has since been scrapped because it was impossible to achieve this goal with reasonable effort. Therefore, EN IEC 62368-1:2020-03 with the dow (Date of Withdrawal) 06.01.2023 is irrelevant for the presumption of conformity under these two directives. On this date, EN 62368-1:2014 should theoretically be withdrawn, so it represents a purely normative transition period.
Instead, the IEC TC 108 technical committee (WG HBSDT) is working at full speed on the 4th edition of IEC 62368-1, which will then hopefully find its way into the EU Official Journal in Europe as EN IEC 62368-1.
Publication as IEC is planned for the end of 2022, but a publication in 2023 is more likely. Currently, the "Committee Draft for Voting" was published on February 11, 2022, and is to be voted on by May 6, 2022.
As long as the 4th edition is being worked on, EN IEC 62368-1:2020-03 can of course be applied as a recognized rule of technology. From a purely legal point of view, however, it does not trigger the presumption of conformity with the essential requirements of the Low Voltage and Radio Equipment Directives.
We will inform you about the technical changes in the 4th edition as well as a practicable approach in a tutorial during our 10th GLOBALNORM Product Compliance Conference (in German) on July 7 and 8, 2022 in Berlin.
If you have any questions or uncertainties about the application of IEC 62368-1, just contact us!
