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Green light for Euro scheme to police sub-standard luminaires

The LIA, in conjunction with European partners, is set to cast an eagle eye over the industry, in order to look out for compliance dodgers and exaggerated performance claims.

The Lighting Industry Association has got the green light to cast its eye over the industry and root out sub-standard luminaires, in an attempt to remove the blight of compliance dodgers. 

A survey of European lighting companies in 2016 showed there was a desperate need to address the problem of compliance and exaggerated performance claims in the luminaire market.

The survey also found that 94 percent of companies asked believed the activity of their national market surveillance authority was insufficient to tackle the problem. The largest number of responses coming from the UK.

'Without doubt the biggest concern expressed by our members is the plethora of non-compliant products carrying exaggerated claims appearing on the market,' commented Peter Hunt who was recently elected President of LightingEurope and is co-ordinating the scheme.

'Compliance with the wide range of regulations our industry is subjected to comes at a cost. It is simply unfair that certain companies are avoiding the cost of compliance in order to gain a competitive advantage. This program aims to tackle this problem and help create a level playing field,' Hunt concluded. 

In response to this survey LightingEurope has developed an industry funded market surveillance program that is now being rolled out in the UK, France, Spain and Poland initially with others to follow.

LIA members are invited to join the scheme, which costs from just 500Euros a year. Members will be entitled to display the Compliant Lighting Initiative logo advertising their support while having access to information on the products being tested.

All monies raised from UK companies will be spent checking products on the UK market at the LIA Laboratory.

LightingEurope has pledged 30,000 Euros to kick off this project and plans to publish its findings annually.