The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued the KDB 641149 D07 v12 notice on April 26, 2026, clarifying that from October 1, 2026, all wireless sensors integrating Wi-Fi or Bluetooth modules (including pressure, temperature and humidity, and gas types) must complete radio frequency exposure (RF Exposure) evaluation in accordance with the ANSI/IEEE C95.1-2019 standard, and submit SAR or MPE test reports in the FCC ID application. The transition period is only 5 months, and there are currently no exemption provisions. This adjustment directly affects wireless sensor device manufacturers, exporting enterprises, and compliance service providers serving the North American market, which need to reassess product certification pathways and testing resource allocation.

Event Overview

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officially issued the KDB 641149 D07 v12 notice on April 26, 2026. The notice stipulates that from October 1, 2026, all wireless sensors containing Wi-Fi or Bluetooth modules (including pressure, temperature and humidity, and gas sensors) must undergo radio frequency exposure evaluation in accordance with the ANSI/IEEE C95.1-2019 standard; when applying for FCC ID, related products must submit SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) or MPE (Maximum Permissible Exposure) test reports. This requirement does not provide exemption provisions, and the transition period runs from April 26, 2026 to September 30, 2026, totaling 5 months.

Which market segments will be affected

Direct trading enterprises

Companies that directly export wireless sensors to the U.S. market will be directly constrained by enforcement of the new regulation. Since FCC ID is a mandatory market access credential for products entering the U.S. market, products that fail to complete RF Exposure evaluation and submit valid reports in accordance with the new regulation will not be able to obtain FCC ID, and therefore will be unable to clear customs and be sold. The impact is mainly reflected in delayed export schedules, longer certification cycles, and increased compliance costs.

Processing and manufacturing enterprises

Manufacturers engaged in OEM/ODM production, if their contract-manufactured products contain 2.4GHz wireless functions and are sold to the United States, will be required by brand owners or importers to simultaneously meet the new testing requirements. The impact is mainly reflected in adjustments to production line testing arrangements, the possibility of BOM changes (for example, antenna layout, enclosure materials, etc. may affect RF exposure results), as well as the need to reserve additional testing and verification time before mass production.

Supply chain service enterprises

Third-party organizations providing services such as FCC certification consulting, testing agency services, and report preparation will face demand for expanded testing projects and standard transitions. The impact is mainly reflected in laboratories needing to complete capability expansion for the ANSI/IEEE C95.1-2019 standard, technical personnel needing to master the new evaluation methods (such as distance determination, power density calculation, operating mode definition, etc.), and service response cycles potentially coming under phased pressure.

What key points should relevant enterprises or practitioners pay attention to, and how should they respond at present

Pay attention to the scope of application of the published policy text

The current KDB notice clearly covers “wireless sensors containing Wi-Fi/Bluetooth modules”, but does not further define the functional threshold of “sensors” (for example, whether single-chip SoC solutions are included, and whether low-power BLE Beacon devices are covered). Enterprises should continue to monitor the FCC official website and subsequent KDB revision notes, with particular attention to whether the D07 version will issue supplementary Q&A (FAQ) or interpretive appendices.

Prioritize sorting out the list of key product categories in transit and planned for export

It is recommended that enterprises immediately review 2.4GHz wireless sensor models planned for export to the United States after October 2026, and distinguish whether they have already obtained FCC ID, whether they are in the testing stage, and whether the ID application has been completed but the certificate has not yet been issued. For new products that have not yet started certification, SAR/MPE evaluation must be included in the initial testing plan; for products that have obtained ID but have not yet been launched, it is necessary to confirm whether the “continuation of existing certification” mechanism applies (the current notice does not specify this and it remains to be observed).

Coordinate testing resources in advance and verify report format compliance

ANSI/IEEE C95.1-2019 has specific requirements for test conditions, evaluation models, and report elements (such as analysis of multi-mode transmission scenarios, and different exposure distance settings for limbs/body trunk). Enterprises should communicate as early as possible with qualified laboratories to confirm whether they have completed standard update filings, and conduct pre-evaluation on typical samples, so as to avoid rejection after formal testing due to report format or incomplete data.

Simultaneously check compliance statements in technical documentation and user manuals

RF Exposure evaluation results will affect the safety warning content in product manuals (such as minimum usage distance, wearing method restrictions, etc.). Enterprises need to supplement corresponding statements in user manuals in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 6 of C95.1-2019, and ensure that multilingual versions (including English) are consistent with the conclusions of the test reports, so as to prevent compliance concerns caused by inconsistencies between labels/manuals after market launch.

Editorial viewpoint / Industry observation

From an industry perspective, this FCC update is more like a signal of refined regulatory granularity rather than a sudden escalation of market access thresholds. Its core change lies in extending the radio frequency exposure evaluation logic originally applied to high-power terminals such as mobile phones and tablets to the field of low-power but widely deployed wireless sensors, reflecting that the regulatory focus is shifting from “peak emissions of a single device” to “cumulative environmental exposure effects of all categories of wireless terminals”. What is currently more noteworthy is that this requirement has not yet been accompanied by detailed transition implementation rules (for example, whether existing certifications may be exempted, and whether test reports issued by third-party laboratories not recognized by the FCC are accepted), so enterprises should not assume that existing processes can naturally continue to be used, but should instead treat this as a systematic reset of the compliance baseline.

Conclusion
This notice marks that U.S. regulation of electromagnetic compatibility and human safety for IoT terminal devices has entered a more refined stage. For relevant enterprises, it is currently more appropriate to understand this as a highly certain compliance milestone——the timeline is clear, the scope of application is explicit, and there is no room for exemption. The key to a rational response is not to wait for policy relaxation, but to treat the 5-month transition period as a rigid constraint, embed RF Exposure evaluation into existing product development and export management processes, and achieve a shift from “passive response” to “proactive adaptation”.

Source information description
Main source: U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) official knowledge base notice KDB 641149 D07 v12 (release date: April 26, 2026).
Areas requiring continued observation: whether the FCC will issue supporting FAQ for this notice, whether it will clarify applicability for specific sensor form factors (such as patch-type gas probes and embedded modules), and whether it will accept equivalent evaluation pathways based on international standards such as IEC 62311.