In the 21st century, green safety is as important as were electrical safety and fire safety to the 20th century. Standards provide a competitive edge to companies to limit unfair competition, achieve significant cost-savings, and simplify access to many more markets. Underwriters Laboratories believes that the IEC represents the opportunity to harmonize standards globally so that manufacturers can make one product and serve all the world markets in a manner that will be safe to the planet and human kind.