Electronics certification for Mexico and Brazil

An electronic product that emits radio — WiFi, Bluetooth or cellular — needs ANATEL homologation in Brazil and CRT homologation in Mexico; one that only plugs into the mains needs a NOM certificate in Mexico and Inmetro certification in Brazil. In all four cases the test is carried out on the finished product, so the decision is taken at the design stage, not after manufacturing. Brazil is the stricter of the two markets: since 25 May 2026, importing telecommunications products intended for sale is permitted only with prior ANATEL homologation.

The expensive mistake is not choosing the wrong laboratory: it is discovering in production that the product belonged to a regulated category that nobody checked beforehand.

Mexico: what the NOM system is and which electronics fall under it

The NOM is a mandatory technical regulation, and there is no single NOM for all electronics: there is one per product category. Which one applies depends on what the device does, where it draws current from and whether it emits radio. Three appear again and again in the consumer electronics catalogue:

• NOM-001-SCFI-2018. Safety of electronic apparatus powered by mains or battery.
• NOM-003-SCFI-2014. Safety of electrical products. It covers apparatus that draw power from the mains or from batteries, up to 1,000 V alternating and 1,500 V direct, and excludes those that already have their own specific standard.
• NOM-024-SCFI-2013. Commercial information: labelling, instructions, warranty and importer details. It is the one most often breached through oversight.

The certificate must be issued by a certification body accredited in Mexico. A test report issued in China or the United States serves as technical input, but it does not replace the Mexican certificate.

On 29 May 2026 the Secretaría de Economía published an agreement in the DOF (Mexico’s Official Gazette) that tightened control. Mobile phones entering under the simplified scheme — value below USD 1,000, or up to USD 2,500 by courier — lost that facility, and since 1 July 2026 they must prove NOM-001-SCFI-2018 and NOM-024-SCFI-2013 at customs.

Mexico: radio homologation, now before the CRT and no longer before the IFT

Every product that transmits by radio — WiFi, Bluetooth, cellular, RF — also needs homologation before the telecommunications authority, and that authority is no longer the IFT. The Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones was dissolved in July 2025 and its functions passed to the Comisión Reguladora de Telecomunicaciones (CRT), which by August 2026 was already publishing amendments to technical provisions.

Three consequences: certificates issued by the IFT remain valid until they expire and do not have to be redone; applications in progress were transferred to the CRT and timelines lengthened during the transition; and the mandatory labelling (“IFT seal”) was postponed to 1 July 2027. Many Chinese suppliers still advertise the procedure as “IFT certification”: the name persists even though the body has changed.

The NOM looks at the safety of the device; homologation looks at radioelectric emission. A wireless product that also connects to the mains needs both.

Brazil: ANATEL, the homologation that is not optional

In Brazil, any equipment with a radio transmitter — WiFi, Bluetooth, cellular, RFID, LoRa — must be homologated by ANATEL before it is imported for commercialisation. The framework rule is Resolution 715/2019 and the list of covered products is in the Lista de Referência (Ato nº 7.280/2020), which explicitly includes equipment with WiFi and Bluetooth. A TWS earbud, a portable speaker, an IP camera or a smart TV box are telecommunications products for legal purposes.

The Import Clearance Manual of the Receita Federal is explicit about the moment: products on the Lista de Referência “must be homologated before importation”, and “the importation of telecommunications products intended for commercialisation in the country is permitted only where there is prior homologation by Anatel”. Ato nº 18.086/2025, in force since 25 May 2026, set that criterion.

What happens to cargo without homologation is not a deferred fine: it is a problem at unloading. The manual provides for retention, seizure, blocked clearance and return to the country of origin, in addition to penalties that Brazilian legislation sets at high amounts per infringement. The authority has also withdrawn non-homologated products from the market in joint operations with the Receita Federal.

• The Mosaico system is ANATEL’s public database where you check whether a product is homologated. If the model does not appear, it is not homologated, however much the supplier shows you a PDF.
• Resolution 780/2025 extended responsibility to marketplaces: they are jointly liable for offering non-homologated products and must show the code in the listing. An irregular product can be taken down from the listing, not only held at customs.

Brazil: Inmetro, the electrical safety layer

Inmetro is the other filter, and it does not replace ANATEL, nor does ANATEL replace it. A charger, a power supply, a luminaire or a small appliance may have no radio and still require compulsory certification, with testing at a laboratory accredited by Inmetro and a certificate issued by an accredited Product Certification Body (OCP).

On the timing of the control there is a nuance that sources present in two ways. Receita Federal documentation describes a “specific control” exercised by Inmetro together with the Receita Federal and cites the certificate number as a condition for importation; other references, based on Inmetro’s own rules, indicate that registration is a condition for placing the product on the market rather than for importing it as such. Both readings meet at the same point: without registration there is no clean clearance, and without clean clearance there is no sale. Which one applies to your operation is confirmed with the customs broker (the despachante aduaneiro).

Lithium batteries: UN38.3 and MSDS are transport documents, not certifications

This is the conceptual error that repeats most often: the UN38.3 report and the safety data sheet (MSDS) do not certify your product for sale, they only allow it to be transported. They are not equivalent to a NOM, an ANATEL homologation or an Inmetro certificate, and having them does not exempt you from any of the three.

UN38.3 is section 38.3 of Part III of the United Nations Manual of Tests and Criteria on the transport of dangerous goods. It certifies that a specific cell or pack model passed eight tests: simulated altitude, thermal, vibration, impact, external short circuit, crush, overcharge and forced discharge. It is tied to the cell and pack model, not to a brand or a product family.

The MSDS (or SDS) is the material safety data sheet: chemical composition, hazards and handling. It is a chemical safety document, not a test result.

A supplier may have UN38.3 for the cell and not for the pack it sells you. Checking that the report covers exactly the reference you are buying — a supplier document check — decides whether the cargo ships.

By air, the IATA rules for 2026 tightened the state of charge: the 30% limit for batteries shipped alone (UN 3480, packing instruction 965) was extended from 1 January 2026 to batteries packed with equipment (instruction 966) above 2.7 Wh, and batteries shipped alone remain prohibited as cargo on passenger aircraft. The specific limits vary by carrier and by watt-hour capacity, and must be confirmed for each shipment.

Comparison table: what each market requires

The correct sequence: design, production and shipping

Design decides what cannot be fixed afterwards. Three questions, before approving the prototype:

1. Does the product emit radio? If it does, it falls under the homologation regime of both countries, and the module you choose determines how complex the test is.
2. Where does it draw its power from, and at what voltage? A bivolt product with the right plug avoids redesigns.
3. Does the battery exceed the watt-hour thresholds that restrict air freight? If it does, sea freight becomes the only route.

Production is when the test is carried out, because the laboratory tests the finished product and not the drawing — the same finished product that a pre-shipment AQL inspection samples. Requesting certification when the order is already on the line means the goods wait in the factory while it is issued.

Before booking freight you verify that the certificate covers the exact reference, not the product family and not last year’s model: the reference that is on the box. In radio products, the homologation code must be declarable on the import document.

What varies and has to be confirmed product by product

There is no single answer, even within the same category. These are the points where it depends on the specific product:

• The regulatory classification. In Brazil the category is determined by the Certification Body during the technical analysis, not by the manufacturer. Different sources describe ANATEL’s categories with criteria that do not agree with one another; the valid reading is the one the OCD issues for your product.
• Whether the radio module is pre-homologated. It may reduce the scope of the tests, but it does not automatically exempt the finished product from its own homologation.
• The labelling. It changes by standard, by version and by authority, and the Mexican authority has just moved one of its dates.
• Battery limits by carrier. They vary by airline, by shipping line and by watt-hour capacity.
• Acceptance of a foreign test report. In Mexico the final certificate is issued by a locally accredited body; in Brazil, by a Brazilian OCP.

MeliPrep publishes certification coordination as a service quoted by standard and category, with laboratory and body fees billed at cost, because the amount depends on the standard and the category. For those who already have their factory and only need the cargo to wait while the certificate is issued, third-party cargo consolidation includes 30 days of storage and is billed at USD 1.80 per m³ handled.

Certification is not a customs formality, it is a design constraint. Whoever treats it as last-minute paperwork pays for the mistake in storage, in lead time and, in the worst case, in goods held.