Baofeng UV-5R reportedly banned in Germany & Poland. Bigger problems may loom.

The German regulator Bundesnetzagentur (the Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railways) appears to have banned sales of the Baofeng UV-5R handheld.

According to their Amtsblatt 22 (Gazette 22) it appears the Polish regulator Urzad Komunikacji found that compliance documentation, technical documentation and lab tests did not show the radio met the requirements of the relevant EU Directives and standards. This information was then shared with other regulators.

It is far from clear what the problem with the radio is, as no detail is supplied. The Gazette article seems to say there is non-compliance with a number of standards, including EN 62209-02: 2010. This is an EMF regulation that requires humans using equipment used within 200mm of the body not be exposed to EMF levels above the relevant SAR limits.

Phone manufacturers typically design handset antennas so power is directed away from the head, minimising SAR values. The vertical antennas on handhelds don’t do this, which makes you wonder whether other radios could run into similar problems.