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They are all abbreviations for product safety certifications, or organizations that provide them. Like UL and CE, they are a "stamp of standardization" that manufacturers need to market their products in other countries. (For the exact meaning of the above, check out the key.)

LTG Services, Inc. is an Alpharetta, Georgia-based firm that helps manufacturers meet product safety, performance and environmental testing standards in the U.S. and abroad.

Founder and President Patty Barron says she formed a corporation in 1989 to help manufacturers comply with safety requirements. Within two to three years, the firm was focusing beyond U.S. shores and borders.

"We originally started with just UL listings, since that's common in the United States, but by 1991, we were branching out to other countries as trade became more global," she says.

"Today, we work wherever our customer base is selling to-European countries, Australia, Mexico, Canada and of course, the US. We also have a representative in China, who works on selling into the U.S. market," she says.

"Most manufacturers are under the common misconception that for the U.S. market they need the UL mark. Actually, what they need is Certification from a 'Nationally Recognized Test Lab' (NRTL). The larger NRTLs include: UL, ETL and CSA. The NRTL program is part of OSHA's Directorate of Science, Technology and Medicine. NRTL recognition indicates that the company has met the necessary qualifications outlined in the program. Retailers will accept certification /listing from any of the NRTLs," she says.

LTG Services helps companies handle various challenges, such as:

Making sure frequencies - (EMI / EMC) emissions generated from fluorescents and low-voltage lighting products comply with a given country's requirements, as well as safety standards;
Helping all clients comply with the relevant standard that they are applying to their product.
Helping a European company with an inline dimmer make adjustments and redesign in order to comply with the requirements for distribution into the U.S. market.
For this last example, Barron says her client is so accustomed to the European concept of wiring, using terminal blocks and not having standard outlet boxes, that the process requires education as well as design work on the dimmer conversion.

"They're not aware of houses being made of wood, so they're not aware of our concern about fire and shock. Because the houses in Europe are made of stone, they have been mostly concerned with shock as a hazard," she says.

Another service the company provides is helping customers sort out exactly what parts of the "alphabet soup" of certification they do need.

"It's the end product customer who will be the one with the requirements, but some certifications supercede others. For instance, TUV and VDE have similar safety markings. But if you have a CE mark, you don't necessarily need those TUV markings unless your customer feels better about reducing liability and wants those specifications as well," Barron says.

Another consideration is that "CE" is a self-certification. To ensure compliance with the European Standard, it is recommended that the manufacturer contact an independent test lab to have their product tested to the appropriate standard. Even though "CE" is under self-declaration, the product still needs to be evaluated to the low voltage directive.

"When evaluating for 'CE,' you need to consider both the safety standard as well as the emissions/ immunity requirements. We hope that manufacturers are not stamping the product with the CE mark without having the product tested or reviewed by a laboratory," she says.

"That's probably why some of the European companies require the additional GS safety marks (General Safety) through TUV or VDE, two of the larger certification houses in Europe," Barron notes

"We can review a product to determine whether it meets the requirements of a specific country, test for that and provide certification reports," she says.

What country has the most stringent rating?

"Of countries we work with, the U.S., with the UL listing mark, is pretty strict. They probably require the most components to be certified in order to get an overall product certification. They're pretty conservative and pretty strict," she says.

In fact, Barron once worked at Underwriters Laboratories. She left because she wanted to work at an importer. "We grew through word of mouth, as I met various manufacturers. Over the years, we have formed long-term relationships, and still have a lot of the same clients we had since Day One," she explains.

"We almost function as part of their engineering team. Some manufacturers may come in and get a test and a test report, and that's it. Others may have 10 products running at one time. We handle all the product certification for several manufacturers," she says.