Lites.asia provides information on lighting and technical exchange for standardization

In October 2009, representatives of industry, government and standards bodies from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam met to discuss the potential benefits of regional co-operation on the development of lighting standards. They recognized that although many Asian countries are committed to adopting IEC International Standards, changing standards to suit local conditions can hinder global harmonization efforts and create potential barriers to trade.

These discussions resulted in the first meeting of lites.asia on 22-23 June 2010 in Beijing, China, with “lites” standing for Lighting Information and Technical Exchange for Standards. Lites.asia is supported by the governments of Australia and the USA (United States of America) as part of the APP (Asia-Pacific Partnership) on Clean Development and Climate.

Greater participation of Asian countries in standards development

Lites.asia aims to increase Asian countries’ participation in the development of IEC International Standards to ensure that the standards include and take into account regional requirements from the outset and reduce the need for subsequent local variations.

With meetings every six months, lites.asia is expected to provide participants with regular updates about the latest developments on IEC lighting projects and standards and to enable countries to promote their own standardization activities to other lites.asia members.

Greater involvement of Asian IEC National Committees – lack of participation is a barrier to global International Standards

One of the issues tackled at the 2010 lites.asia event concerned the involvement of Asian IEC NCs (National Committees) in the development of International Standards by TC (Technical Committee) 34: Lamps and related equipment, and SC (Subcommittee) 34A: Lamps.

IEC International Standards are developed by technical experts in each relevant field. Experts are nominated for this task by IEC NCs who have opted to participate (P-member) in the work of the TC.

During the process of developing an International Standard there are several stages at which a country can comment prior to final approval and publication. However, the level of a country's participation varies according to its IEC membership, be it Full, Associate or as a participant in the IEC Affiliate Country Programme.

Countries in the Asian region were encouraged to use all of the possibilities available to them, depending on their membership status, to ensure that their local needs are considered in the standards development process.

At the same time, the event looked at the standards development process itself and the relevance of test methods and performance standards currently in place (or under development) for each participating country, together with their regional needs.

Lites.asia was timed so that participants could also take part in the PILESLAMP (Phasing-Out of Incandescent Lamps and Energy Saving Lamps Promotion) conference on the international phase-out of inefficient lighting that took place in Beijing on 24-25 June 2010.