Two new important areas of work will now receive close attention following the decision on the 27th April 2009 by the 4E ExCo to launch Annexes on Mapping & Benchmarking and Standby Power.  Supported by a majority of 4E member countries, these Annexes will undertake a range of collaborative activities to assist policy development and are immediately operational.  

The Mapping & Benchmarking Annex, led by the United Kingdom, seeks to answer a number of relevant questions, including:

• What are the differences in the performance of products sold in the various regions of the world?
• What are the primary causes of these differences (policy, culture, etc)?
• What does this tell us about the potential for national, regional and global improvement in the performance of products, and the potential mechanisms that policy makers may engage to realise this potential? 

The Standby Power Annex, led by Australia, will have the following three main outcomes:

• The development of methodologies to assist in the collection and analysis of standby power data from existing and new products in order to facilitate international comparisons
• Compilation of measured data on standby power consumption for products from agreed sources across participating countries and to undertake selected benchmarking comparisons
• Development of practical policy approaches that may enable effective management of standby power in globally and locally traded products