Hamburg Conference Update | The 41st meeting of IEC TC34/WG19 has concluded, and international standards for the entire horticultural lighting value chain are accelerating their development.

On November 9, 2026, the 41st meeting of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Horticultural Lighting Working Group (TC 34/WG 19), convened by Chinese expert Dr. Zhang Wei, was successfully held in Hamburg, Germany. Standards experts from more than ten countries worldwide gathered on-site to present reports and discuss each item under the working group’s agenda, advancing the development of an international standards system for horticultural lighting.

As of now, WG19 has three international standards officially published:

● IEC 63403-1 and IEC 63403-2, “LED Packaging for Horticultural Lighting,” which specify requirements for LED packaging specifications and grading rules for horticultural lighting, were officially published on February 8, 2024.

● IEC 63545, “Safety of Luminaire for Horticultural Lighting,” which sets safety requirements for end-use horticultural lighting luminaires, was officially published on February 23, 2026.

At this Hamburg meeting, four ongoing standards simultaneously made key progress, with Chinese experts leading three of them:

● IEC 63544, “Performance of LED Luminaires for Horticultural Lighting” (led by China), completed deliberation on FDIS stage voting results and comments from various countries. The standard is about to enter the final pre-publication process before international standardization and is expected to be finalized soon.

● IEC 63640, “Safety of LED Modules for Horticultural Lighting” (led by South Korea), has processed all CDV voting comments and IEC editorial feedback, and will next proceed to the FDIS stage.

● IEC 63747, “Safety of LED Lamps for Horticultural Lighting” (led by China), has closed the loop on CD stage comments and will distribute the comment processing table to advance to the CDV stage.

● IEC 63751, “Performance of LED Light Sources for Horticultural Lighting” (led by China), has completed processing NP stage voting comments and will distribute the comment processing table to move into the CD stage.

From LED packaging and modules to lamps and luminaires, safety and performance standards covering components, light sources, and finished products are being systematically advanced. Over the next two to three years, this full-chain standard suite will be progressively completed layer by layer, forming a comprehensive international framework for horticultural lighting standards.

Unlike previous instances where domestic Industry passively aligned with established international standards, in this series of standards, Chinese experts have been deeply involved from the initiation phase through NP, CD, CDV, and FDIS stages. Several core standards are led and driven by China, continuously integrating domestic industrial practices, test data, and technical needs into international provisions, thereby helping China gradually gain greater influence over international standards in the horticultural lighting field.

For domestic horticultural lighting companies and testing institutions, this represents a critical window of opportunity: it is recommended to closely monitor developments in IEC WG19 standards, proactively plan product design and laboratory testing capability building, adapt to the layered implementation of safety and performance indicators, build compliance reserves in advance, confidently meet overseas market access requirements, and seize market opportunities in global facility and vertical agriculture.

Source: SAC TC224 Lighting Standards Committee