[en] Small amounts of radioactive material may be added to various goods for functional reasons. Several such items are currently available for either professional or personal use. These include ionization chamber smoke detectors, thoriated-tungsten welding rods, luminous dials, electrical devices and electric discharge lamps. Some of these goods may be intended for particular types of market such as cinemas or other places to which the public may have access, but they are unlikely to be provided directly to members of the public. Other goods may be intended for wide scale use and therefore readily available on the market as consumer products through commercial outlets where personal and household products are normally purchased. Members of the public may be exposed to ionizing radiation as a consequence of activities such as transport, storage, use and disposal of such goods. The IAEA safety standards provide the basic requirements for regulatory control of such goods. The most relevant documents are the Governmental, Legal and Regulatory Framework for Safety and the International Basic Safety Standards (hereafter referred to as the BSS). These requirements include notification of a practice to the regulatory body and authorization of the practice by the regulatory body. Provision is made for the exemption of practices from these and other regulatory requirements based on general criteria given in the BSS or any exemption levels specified by the regulatory body on the basis of these criteria. The BSS, which are jointly sponsored by the IAEA and several other international organizations, apply to all facilities and all activities for peaceful purposes that give rise to exposure to radiation. In the interest of harmonization of approaches among Member States, some guidance on the application of the criteria for exemption has been provided in a number of Safety Guides, e.g. Regulatory Control of Radiation Sources, IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GS-G-1.5 (2004) and the Safety Guide on Application of the Concepts of Exclusion, Exemption and Clearance, No. RS-G-1.7 (2004). Nevertheless, the application of the exemption provisions in the BSS require further guidance, particularly with respect to goods containing small amounts of radioactive material. Although attempts have been made to harmonize the approaches among States and some progress has been achieved, further work needs to be done. For example, in some States such goods may be exempted from regulatory control and, in the case of consumer products, freely available to the public, while in other States their use may be subject to authorization with the consequence that they cannot be made freely available to the public. Other States may even refuse to authorize such goods, effectively resulting in their being banned. Such inconsistencies of approach may be a cause of confusion since the reasons for the different approaches will not be clear to manufacturers and suppliers of goods and the public who might use them. It may even result in questioning of the competence of the regulatory body. Further harmonization of the regulatory approaches in Member States in the application of the exemption provision in the BSS is clearly desirable, if not essential. Such goods may be marketed globally, and lack of harmonization can be a cause of confusion among the public and others regarding the risks posed by such goods. Further harmonization would assist regulatory bodies in the efficient and effective use of their limited resources, leaving them more time to devote to those activities and practices that present more significant radiation risks. Furthermore, it would have benefits for international trade.