The European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT)
The European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrationsties (CEPT) was founded in 1959 by 19 countries, which expanded to 26 in the first decade. The original members were the monopoly postal and telecommunications administrations. CEPT's activities include cooperation in commercial, operational, regulatory and technical standardisation. Today, 45 countries are members of CEPT.
Our regulatory authority, BIPT, is a member of CEPT. At the request of IARU Region 1, CEPT examined the problem of reciprocity of amateur radio licences in different countries and published two recommendations on this issue. These can be summarised as follows:
- When a radio amateur visits a CEPT country, he may transmit from that country using the prefix of the visited country, followed by "/" and his own call sign. In the event of an inspection, the radio amateur must be able to present his licence (operating certificate) with the CEPT symbol to the authorities of the visited country. This is described in Recommendation T/R 61-01, first adopted in 1985 at the request of the IARU. This recommendation only applies to short stays, mainly in mobile or handheld mode, for holidays and business trips for example. Full details can be found on the ERO website, together with the full text of the recommendation and the list of countries where it is implemented.
- For longer stays in a foreign country, the PTT administration must issue a new licence and a new callsign that corresponds to the country. The administration must issue the licence on presentation of the HAREC certificate, the radio amateur does not have to retake an examination. This is described in Recommendation T/R 61-02, first adopted in 1990. This recommendation therefore applies to radio amateurs who settle more permanently (or semi-definitively) in a CEPT country. Similarly, you can find the text of the recommendation and the list of countries where it is implemented on the ERO website.
The list of CEPT countries where this regulation applies has been extended in recent years by a number of non-European countries, such as the USA and Israel, which have applied T/R 61-01.
Evolution of CEPT recommendations
At a meeting of the CEPT countries, which took place in Vilnius in 2004, and as a result of the changes decided during WRC 2003, the CEPT Recommendation was partially T/R 61-02 revised and adapted. From then on, no distinction was made between HAREC A (the certificate with morse examination) and HAREC B (the certificate without morse examination). In addition, the paragraph defining the speed, duration and maximum number of errors in the CW examination was also deleted. The programme of the theoretical exam (electricity, radio electronics, etc...) was not changed.
Today, therefore, there is only the HAREC certificate without further denomination. Recommendation T/R 61-02 has been recognised by more than 50 countries (administrations).
Note! It is clear that CEPT licences relate only to the possession and operation of an amateur radio station, and in no way relate to any customs obligations applicable to the equipment.
What does HAREC mean?
HAREC stands for Harmonised Amateur Radio Certificate. The principle on which reciprocity under the CEPT recommendations is based is the fact that radio amateurs from those countries took an exam of equal level. Hence the idea of harmonising the exams by jointly defining the examination content. The examination content is defined in Recommendation T/R 61-02, and administrations that follow it issue a HAREC certificate.
BIPT has been issuing HAREC certificates since around 1986. Older certificates issued by BIPT are basically equivalent. If you have such an older certificate and if you need a HAREC certificate for some reason, you can simply apply for one to the BIPT. Usually, however, your operating certificate (see figure) will be accepted as equivalent to HAREC certificate. In principle, therefore, we talk about HAREC certificates and CEPT operating certificates, although the terminology HAREC licence is also sometimes used.
Such a thing exists on the Americas, the International Amateur Radio Permit (IARP). The intention is that sooner or later there will be full reciprocity between HAREC and IARP.
Operating certificate.