Battery testing to UL 1642 (Lithium Batteries, 4th Edition) and UL 2054 (Household & Commercial Batteries, 2nd Edition) now can be done in Suzhou, China. The Suzhou battery laboratory caters for testing of 20 product models every month, with a gradual expansion plan in the pipeline.

UL is the only third-party testing organization that has developed comprehensive safety standards for batteries. The standards are also recognized as American national safety standards.

UL has launched a new certification program that will enable consumers of bottled water to choose brands that have been validated by UL to meet the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) requirements for quality and safety. This Mark will also enable producers of bottled water to differentiate and more effectively communicate their commitment to the quality and safety of their product.

The new UL Certified Water Quality Mark will first be available for bottled water products intended for distribution in the United States. Consumers can be assured that bottled water bearing the Mark is produced at plants audited by UL, and those audits are inclusive of the IBWA, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements. To date, UL has analyzed more than 1.5 million water samples for thousand of bottlers, public water supplies, engineering firms, consultants, and state and federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. military. UL’s water laboratory is certified in 48 states and Puerto Rico, making it the most certified laboratory for bottled water analysis.

UL’s applicants and manufacturers are now able to view their Variation Notices (VNs) and Inspection Reports (IRs) through UL’s customer portal MyHome @UL. We rolled out MyHome @UL in 2007. Now we have added a new resource called My Follow-Up Service Information.

With online access to VNs, UL applicants have the opportunity to quickly identify, respond to and resolve time-sensitive manufacturing issues that can happen anywhere in the world.

Manufacturers will also benefit by the ability to store their VNs and IRs in a personal library and easily track recurrent process issues.

UL is pleased to announce that, for the 6th year in a row, UL has issued more IEC 60601 CB Test Certificates under the category “MED” than any other National Certification Body (NCB).

UL issued 34% of the 1,531 total MED CB certificates issued in 2007, according to results from the IEC System for Conformity Testing and Certification of Electrical Equipment (IECEE). From 2006 to 2007, MED CB certificates grew by 35%, the largest percentage growth in the category over the past 5 years.