RAWALPINDI, June 6: The world’s three largest lighting companies, Philips, Osram and General Electric, on Friday signed a pact to establish standards for compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in an effort to rid the Asian market of substandard energy-saving lights.

An Asian Development Bank press release said under the new agreement, lighting suppliers in Asia will develop performance levels to rate CFL quality, a system for product marking, and a regional database so consumers can identify which CFLs meet quality standards.

South Asia has the potential for sale of compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) worth $7 billion annually, says an Asian Development Bank press release on Friday.

Consumer dissatisfaction with shoddy CFLs is threatening the energy saving lamps’ spectacular growth in Asia as half of CFLs are substandard -- producing less light or burning out more quickly than advertised -- so establishing performance standard is vital for the continued growth of CFLs, it added. The supplier network is being supported by the USAID and the Australian government as part of a regional climate initiative known as the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.