International Commission on Illumination (CIE)

The International Commission on Illumination (CIE) was founded by the International Commission on Photometry at its 4th session in Berlin in August 1913, and its first statutes, published in September of the same year, set out its objectives: "The object of the Commission is to study all questions relating to the lighting industry and the sciences connected therewith, and to establish by all appropriate means international agreements on lighting questions.

Article 3 stipulated that "any country wishing to take part in the work of the Commission may do so by forming a national committee through the cooperation of the technical societies representing the gas and electricity industries and other modes of lighting, as well as the country's Laboratory, if one exists".

Essentially, the CIE has remained what it was from the outset, in the sense that organically it is no more than a collection of 37 national committees representing member countries (there were only 9 at the outset) and 10 individual members. Being non-governmental, it is not legally attached to any of these countries. Its head office is naturally located in one of the member countries, which can change at any time. It must, of course, respect the laws of each country, but the CIE, as an international organization, is not subject to the same regulations as a national association.

For information on lighting, please refer to :

• specialized articles in the Construction and Electrical Engineering treatises;

• in the article [R 6 410] Radiometry. Photometry in this treatise.