(This was written for Australian member,Jonno, in answer to questions in other Topicsbut equally applies to all Western buyers thinking about importing mobile phones.)

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Hey there Jonno

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It's Christmas eve here in Aus and I'm about to close office but I'll give you some time hereas I can seeyou are headed for deep trouble - either byCustoms seizing your phones or by our Federal Government's ACMA bankrupting you with massive fines. I well know whatI'm talking aboutas one of my company's activities is importinglarge volumes of mobile phonesfor wholesale to Australian phone shops.

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CHINESE PHONE FACTORIES

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The saga begins in China. With300 million mobile phone users, China itself is the world's largestmarket for mobile phones. I can point you to four multi-billion dollar manufacturers plusno less than50 smaller genuine factories (mostly in SZ) all making good quality product for the Chinese domestic market (before considering the hundreds of shonky outfits churning out sub-standard knock offs of Western brand name phones).EACH ONE OF THOSE FIFTY GOOD FACTORIES IS ENTIRELY USELESS FOR YOUR PURPOSE OF IMPORTING PHONES INTO AUSTRALIA (OR INTO ANY OTHER WESTERN COUNTRY)- unless you want to spend $100k for laboratory certification of your chosen phone and then purchase no less than 1,000 phones under every ongoing order.

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In essence, I can tell you from experience thatany factory which makes acceptable quality phones deals in only 1,000 MOQ and if the phones are not certified by the Western Government in the country of destination you will land in more shite than you can ever imagine (even for small quantity imports).

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WESTERN LAW

You see, every Western country has its own set of Health, Safety, EMC and Radio standards for mobile phones generally higher than Chinese standards (including for any other device which emits radio waves such as Bluetooth etc).These standards are enshrined in statutory law in every Western country andareenforcedthrough laboratory certification of every phone model (or other radio device) imported for resale in the West.Certificate numbers are issued tothe head phone importer / distributor and this number must be affixed to every phone.

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Look under the battery in your legal Australianmobile phone. You will see an "A" symbol followed by a number. This is known as an "A-Tick" in the trade.This A-Tick number is issued by our Federal Government'sAustralian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) to the head importer / distributor.

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In the event of problems, our ACMA policing authoritycan then identify the importer of any phone by reference to the A-tick number on any phone. The same processapplies to EU,and etc under different sticker systems.

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CERTIFICATION

To get an A-Tick number (or the equivalent in any other Western country) the imported phone must firstly be certified by an approved laboratory as complying with thestandards in the countryof destination.To avoid cheating only certain labs are "approved" (and you won't find these in ).

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The full range of lab tests for any one specificmodel of phone costs no less than $100,000.If the phone meets the tests you will get your lab certificate. If the phone fails you lose your money. So, it's a $100k roll of the dice when you lab test Chinese phones.

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Once you get your lab certificates, the Australian Government will then issue you with your A-Tick number for only that particular model of phone. Your A-Tick must not be used by any other importer / distributor and must not be used on any other model of phone. This process of tracking each phone importer and each phone model makes it impossible for scam suppliers to affix fake A-Ticks (the same in and EU and etc).

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After the Government issues your A-Tick number, youthen instructyour phone factory to affix your A-Tick number to the phone during the manufacturing process BEFORE they are imported.

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A couple of sample phones for testing purpose mayslip through ok but don’t try to sell them.

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POLICING

Broadly, Australian Customs seize phonesnot bearing your A-Tick number. Or,if the phones slip inwithout an A-Tick, our ACMA will track down and prosecute the importer / distributor with a fury you don't want to know about (much the same applies in all Western countries).

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And, that's just the start of the red tape. The importer / distributor must maintain certainrecords in a separate file as set out in the regulations and this file isfield audited by ACMA from time to time. Stuff it up and they'll eat you alive. Again, every Western country has its own equivalent of our ACMA policing authority monitoring phones for sale in the public domain.

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The A-tick files in my office are maintained with a religious fervour under lock and key as they must be instantly available for any surprise ACMA audit.

In USA, the authoritieswill literally throw you in prison for selling phones whichdo not comply with USA's FCC regulations.

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STANDARDS

I mentioned Health, Safety, EMC and Radio standards. The severity of these standards variesfrom country to country far too complex to go into here, butin short ...

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Firstly,the Health standards mainly concern the level of emission of radio waves from phone aerials. Excessive emission causes hot spots in human flesh. In the case of phones, these hot spots occur particularly in the human brain because the phone is held close tothe ear. Consequently, every Western Government has laws mandating the maximum acceptable emission because unacceptably high emissions can cause serious injury to human brain tissue via hot spots ( has the world's toughest emissionstandard by far).

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Lab tests to measure the strength of these radio wavesare called SAR tests. Sell phones in any Western country not lab certified for SAR and you are a dead man because Western governments take this health risk of hot spots in the human brain very seriously (as indeed they should).

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I have seen Chinese phones first hand which cause the flesh in your ear to actually get hot after 10 minutes on the phone. Nobody cares about a hot ear but the radio waves causing that heat also penetrateyour brain tissue so I shudder to think of the hot spots in one's brain tissueby excessive emissionsfrom some uncertified phones.

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You are placing people's health on the line and maybe even your own health, or thehealth of your own family members, when you import and distribute uncertified mobile phones.

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Secondly, part of thelab tests concern the integrity of the engineering design of thephone. An improperly made phone can bring down an entire radionetwork landing you in a multi-million damages claim for uncertified phones disrupting a carrier's network.

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In summary, Western Governmentstandards are not just useless Government red tape. They protect usfrom excessiveradio wave emissions harming our brain tissue and they protect us from badly designed phones knockingourmobile phone networks off the air.

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To import and sell uncertified phones in any western country is put your entire assets on the line for massive Government fines and/or damages claims from network carriers or injured consumers.

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WHAT TO LOOK FOR

.Before you even ask the price, you must ask if the phone is certified.

• For Australia, you ask for A-Tick certification. 
• For EU, its CE certification

• For USA, it's FCC certification