The real issue surrounding UL is whether its standards are current, necessary, cost effective, and fair. Most U.S. fixture makers (including those with offshore manufacturing) are resigned to meeting UL and many have set up in-house UL testing labs to do the work, keeping costs low. But for designers, inventors, and offshore lighting companies, UL can appear as a huge obstacle to bringing new lighting products into the marketplace. Moreover, with the threatened onslaught of new light-emitting diode (LED) technology, getting through the UL process threatens to become a barrier because of UL's deserved reputation for being intransigent and slow to accommodate new materials, concepts, and techniques.