Developing Lighting Product Registration Systems

This guidance note provides practical guidance for policymakers on how to design, establish, commission and maintain a robust and reliable registration system for lighting products. It primarily targets countries that wish to establish a product registration system either because they lack a system in any form, they are considering upgrading from a paper-based system to an online registration system, or wish to upgrade an existing online registration system to include more features.
A product registration system is an initial compliance gateway wherein manufacturers and importers register eligible products with the regulatory authority prior to market entry. A registration system for lighting products can assist energy efficiency programme officials in transitioning their national market to energy efficient lighting products.
The three primary user groups are: government officials (or their third party contractors); product manufacturers and importers; and consumers. For all three groups, the registration system serves as the authoritative source of information on the performance of products in the market. It can serve as a comprehensive online platform for registering products on the market (the registration system for manufacturers or importers), for storing product characteristics and compliance information (the registration system for government), and for informing consumers about the performance of products (the database for consumers).
To maximise the registration system’s effectiveness and usefulness, it must be planned, developed, and operated with careful attention to many details.