Europe Lights up to Fire-Safety Rules for Cigarettes

Source from:  euractiv.com Monday 1 September 2008 09/03/2008

A decision by Finland to test the ignition ability of all cigarettes sold in the country could be extended across Europe as of 2011 in an attempt to prevent domestic fires and related deaths. Last month, the Finnish government suggested adopting the international standard ASTM E2187 to test the ignition performance of cigarettes on bedding and upholstered furniture. About 700 fires are caused by cigarettes in Finland each year, causing some 35-40 deaths. In Europe, the Commission estimates that a minimum of 1,000 fatalities are caused by such fires each year. Burning cigarettes are also responsible for many forest fires, it adds. "While any lit cigarette is a potential fire hazard, cigarettes that perform well as measured by the ASTM international standard are less likely to start fires when left unattended," ASTM said in a statement. Stephen Russell, secretary general of ANEC, a European consumer association, welcomed the Finnish initiative as a contribution to improved consumer safety. He said he supported referencing the ASTM standard as a test method "until the details of a formal European standard have finally been worked out". A Commission decision dated 25 March 2008 defines a fire-safe cigarette as "a cigarette that self-extinguishes when not actively puffed, before it has burnt through its full length". According to the decision, the European safety requirement is met when "no more than 25%" of a batch of cigarettes "burn through their whole length" when left unattended. However, there is currently no single European standard for testing cigarettes, a task which is left to national authorities. Florence Berteletti Kemp, coordinator of the RIP Alliance, which campaigns for safer cigarettes in Europe, said the EU should impose strict fire-safety rules on manufacturers. "In view of the fact that it is technologically and economically feasible for cigarettes to meet fire-safety standards, tobacco manufacturers should be required to produce and market only reduced-ignition propensity cigarettes in the EU". She added that tobacco manufacturers should use the same standard applied in New York, where "fire-safe" cigarettes were introduced in 2003. The standard was later taken up by Canada and 35 other US states (see map ). At European level, the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) started work in August to develop a fire-safety standard that would apply across the entire EU. A spokesperson for Meglena Kuneva, the EU commissioner for consumer protection, told EurActiv that such committees usually take "two to three years" to develop a standard. It would be "realistic" to expect the new rules to enter into force in 2011, she added. Enditem