Argentina INTI RF Testing Resumes for ENACOM Approval

Argentina: INTI Resumes Local RF Testing Under Court Injunction, Restoring Limited Public Laboratory Capacity for ENACOM Homologation

Argentina's public test laboratory, the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial (INTI), has resumed local radio frequency (RF) testing after previously discontinuing the service along with a wide range of other technical services. The laboratory is operating with limited staff and under a court-ordered injunction, so the restored capacity is real but provisional. For manufacturers pursuing type approval with the Ente Nacional de Comunicaciones (ENACOM), the update eases pressure on local laboratory availability without changing any technical or procedural requirement.

Regulatory Background

ENACOM homologation requires test reports issued by laboratories that ENACOM recognizes. Most RF products must be tested in Argentina, and INTI's Departamento de Comunicaciones is one of the laboratories on ENACOM's register. Under ENACOM Resolution 1248/2021, the INTI laboratory was enabled to test against three standards in particular:

• ENACOM-Q2-60.15, medical devices

• ENACOM-Q2-61.03, user terminal equipment for mobile communications services

• ENACOM-Q2-61.04, base station transceivers for mobile communications services

  
  

ENACOM's technical standards page also lists INTI as the accredited laboratory for several legacy broadcasting and telephony standards, which means that for some product categories INTI has historically been the main or only local option.

How the service was interrupted

On 16 April 2026, INTI's Board published Resolution 42/2026 (RESFC-2026-42-APN-CD#INTI) in the Boletín Oficial. The resolution ordered INTI to stop providing the systematized services listed in its Annex I, effective on publication, while requiring existing agreements and work orders to be completed. Press and official summaries describe the affected list as ranging from more than 600 to close to 1,000 services.

In late May 2026, the Juzgado Federal en lo Civil, Comercial y Contencioso Administrativo N° 2 of San Martín partially granted an injunction requested by the state workers' union ATE. The court ordered INTI to refrain from executing acts derived from Resolution 42/2026, including the cessation, transfer or modification of services and the relocation of technical equipment, and to maintain testing, certification and technical assistance programs. The injunction was granted for six months under Law 26.854, the government has appealed, and the underlying challenge to the resolution has not yet been decided.

Despite the injunction, industry monitoring reported in July 2026 that INTI had discontinued local RF testing, with mandatory testing continuing at other local laboratories.

Argentina INTI RF Testing Resumes: What Has Changed

As of early October 2026, INTI has resumed operations, including local RF testing, with a limited staff and under the court-ordered injunction. The key points are:

Item	Status
Laboratory	INTI, Departamento de Comunicaciones (public laboratory)
Service	Local RF testing for ENACOM homologation
Current status	Resumed, operating with limited staff
Legal basis for resumption	Court-ordered injunction suspending the effects of INTI Resolution 42/2026
Nature of the change	Operational, not regulatory
ENACOM testing requirement	Unchanged: local RF testing remains mandatory
Durability	Provisional: tied to a six-month injunction that is under appeal

No new ENACOM resolution accompanies this update. Technical standards, sample requirements, local representation and RAMATEL registration rules are the same as before.

What This Means for Manufacturers

Local test capacity improves, but only partially. A public laboratory returning to service adds a route for testing that had been unavailable for roughly three months. With reduced staffing, however, intake, scheduling and report turnaround at INTI are likely to be slower and less predictable than before the interruption.

Categories that depend on INTI benefit most. Products falling under standards where INTI is the listed or principal laboratory, such as certain broadcasting transmitters and equipment covered by the standards enabled under Resolution 1248/2021, regain a local testing path. Manufacturers in these categories should confirm with INTI which specific test scopes are currently being accepted.

Continuity is not guaranteed. INTI is operating because a court requires it, not because Resolution 42/2026 has been withdrawn. If the injunction expires without extension, or is overturned on appeal, services could be interrupted again at short notice. Projects with samples in the laboratory at that moment would be exposed.

Private laboratories remain a necessary part of planning. Other ENACOM-recognized laboratories, including IADEV S.A., LENOR S.R.L., TERALAB S.R.L. and TÜV Rheinland Argentina, continued testing throughout the interruption. For time-critical launches, they remain the lower-risk option where their scope covers the product.

The timing overlaps with the RAMATEL transition. ENACOM Resolution 57/2026, as amended by Resolution 843/2026, brings the new RAMATEL framework and third-party certification model into force on 1 December 2026. The injunction's six-month term ends at approximately the same time. Manufacturers should treat late November 2026 as a period of elevated uncertainty for both laboratory availability and procedure.

Certification Impact Summary

Area	Impact	Notes
Local RF testing requirement	No change	Testing in an ENACOM-recognized laboratory remains mandatory
Laboratory options	Improved	INTI is again available alongside private laboratories
INTI lead times	Uncertain	Limited staffing; confirm scheduling before shipping samples
Existing ENACOM approvals	No impact	Issued homologations and RAMATEL registrations are unaffected
Projects in progress at private labs	No impact	No reason to transfer testing already under way
Projects paused pending INTI	Positive	May be reactivated, subject to INTI confirming scope and capacity
INTI-only test scopes	Positive, with risk	Path restored, but dependent on the injunction remaining in force
Technical standards and documentation	No change	No new ENACOM standards or forms arise from this update
Applications filed before 1 December 2026	Favorable window	Processed under the current regime; registrations granted before that date remain valid for three years

Timeline and Required Actions

Timeline

Date	Milestone
24 to 26 February 2026	ENACOM Resolution 57/2026 signed and published, creating the new RAMATEL, certification agency and test laboratory regulations
16 April 2026	INTI Resolution 42/2026 published; cessation of the listed services takes effect immediately
Late May 2026	Federal court in San Martín grants a six-month injunction suspending the effects of Resolution 42/2026
10 July 2026	Industry monitoring reports that INTI has discontinued local RF testing
28 August 2026	ENACOM Resolution 843/2026 published, postponing the new RAMATEL framework to 1 December 2026
2 October 2026	INTI reported to have resumed local RF testing with limited staff under the injunction
Late November 2026 (approximate)	Six-month injunction term ends unless extended or modified on appeal
1 December 2026	New RAMATEL framework and third-party certification model enter into force

Required actions

Action	Who	When
Confirm with INTI which RF test scopes are accepted and current scheduling	Local representative or compliance partner	Immediately, before shipping samples
Review projects placed on hold during the interruption and decide whether to reactivate at INTI or move to a private laboratory	Regulatory and project teams	Within the next two weeks
Identify products that rely on INTI-only test scopes and prioritize their testing	Regulatory team	October 2026
Retain a second ENACOM-recognized laboratory as a contingency for each active project	Regulatory team	Ongoing
Aim to complete testing and file ENACOM applications under the current regime	Manufacturers and local representatives	Before 1 December 2026
Monitor the injunction, the pending appeal and any further ENACOM scheduling changes	Regulatory intelligence	Through December 2026
Add schedule buffer to Argentina launch plans that depend on INTI	Program management	Now

Conclusion

The resumption of RF testing at INTI is welcome news for manufacturers that depend on Argentina's public laboratory, but it should be read as a temporary restoration rather than a return to normal. The requirement has not changed, the capacity is reduced, and the legal basis expires around the same time the new RAMATEL framework begins. The practical response is to verify INTI's current scope before committing samples, keep a private laboratory in reserve, and move pending ENACOM filings forward ahead of 1 December 2026.