I see.
The only place I've ever seen the IEC 60320 is on the back of my computer monitor. Since our power is 120v, I can only see problems should this become a 'standard' for appliances in general.
So ... you prefer that appliances have a socket on them, and you use an entirely separate cord to connect the appliance to the wall receptacle?
That's an interesting way to do things. Over here, there are all manner of rules that specify exactly how long the cord can be for each appliance. For example, toasters are limited to 2-ft, garage door openers to 3-ft., and (recent change) dishwashers to 6-ft. All these rules become useless if the customer is expected to supply the cord.
Another detail that is part of each UL listing is an examination of the size of the conductors in the cord. For example, a table lamp has a much lighter-duty cord than my window-mounted air conditioner- even though both can use the same circuit.
We also have a variety of appliances that we require to have special protections built into the plugs. Air conditioners get "LCDI's," hair dryers get "IDCI's," and my 3-way power tap has a "GFCI" plug. Heaven alone knows what the differences are!
I also notice that a number of things have these stout plastic sausage-like things attached to the cords. I'm not entirely sure what these things do, but someone figured they were important enough to spend $$$$ adding them. (One theory claims they are 'chokes' designed to improve 'power quality.') I don't know what would happen if you were to operate the appliance without the magic widget.
