Lighting Council Australia is addressing the need to harmonise national and international regulations concerning certain high-performance lamps.

These lamps are used primarily in professional applications. To ensure their high performance characteristics they contain small amounts of low level radiation emitters. Those lamps have been proven harmless to health and the environment by independent studies.

While many authorities acknowledge that these lamps do not require regulatory control, interpretation by individual countries of the international basic safety standards and implementation into national regulation varies.

Lighting Council Australia is working with relevant authorities and international colleagues in the lamp industry towards harmonisation of the interpretation and implementation of applicable regulations. This has resulted in 30 countries, including Australia, granting one or more lamp manufacturers a license or exemption from further licensing requirements. Lamp manufacturers and suppliers are now informing their customers and other stakeholders about the current situation on a country-by-country basis.

Lighting Council Australia chief executive Bryan Douglas says, “As a responsible industry we continue our dialogue with national and international regulatory authorities on the specific licensing requirements for each country. Our objective is to achieve harmonisation of the complex set of regulations facing the lighting industry’s international supply chain.”