What are CENELEC and the IEC?
CENELEC, the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization, was created in 1973 and is a non-profit technical organization composed of the National Electrotechnical Committees of 23 European countries. The IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) was founded in 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri, and is presently comprised of 40 countries including the U.S.A. Its stated purpose is to establish standards for a wide variety of electrical products to encourage international trade.
