BELGIUM/USA: EU prepares new law to introduce self-extinguishing cigarettes across the bloc

This cigarette will soon become Brussels' talk of the town. It is a cigarette that stops burning automatically after a few seconds if not puffed. It's already mandatory in Canada and some U.S. states like New York and the European Union may be following the trend. The European Union plans to introduce the self-extinguishing cigarettes in EU countries to prevent thousands of fire-related injuries and up to two thousand deaths each year. ''The figures speak for themselves. The figure that we have for about fourteen member states indicates that perhaps two thousand fires, deaths are caused by cigarette-related fires each year. So the trend across countries from Canada to Australia to states in America is to introduce what is a small technical change and which most authorities think will save lives and significantly reduce fire-related accidents,'' Helen Kearns from the European Commission said. Kearns says the EU Commission will bring forward proposals later this year to make the self-extinguishing cigarettes mandatory across the 27-nation bloc. New York was the first of the U.S. states to introduce the Lower Ignition Propensity (LIP) cigarettes in June 2004. Vermont and California followed, while the state of Illinois will be next in January 2008. Currently, seventeen states have legislation in place, or on in the works, requiring the safer cigarettes. In Canada, the LIP cigarettes became mandatory in 2005 and Australia is set to follow. To comply with the new U.S. standard and offer LIP cigarettes, British American Tobacco modified the cigarette paper and added two bands of thicker paper that stop burning if not puffed. The President and CEO of the National Fire Protection Association, James Shannon, welcomed the introduction of the LPI cigarettes on the U.S. market but warned that ''fire-safe'' cigarette doesn't mean ''safe cigarette''. "I want to emphasize, we're not saying that smoking is going to be safe with fire-safe cigarettes. But there's going to be less likelihood that a fire would be caused by smoking if we can get these changes in the law adopted here and around the world,'' Shannon underlined. Some U.S. tobacco companies claimed that the modified cigarettes alter the taste and quality of their product, a claim Shanoon refuted. Shannon also said that no real studies have been conducted yet to examine how effective the fire-safe cigarettes are in preventing fires, as they are still too new to the market. As smokers go, New Yorkers were divided over the fire-safe cigs. "This whole law was enacted after people fell asleep in their apartments with cigarettes burning, you know, and caught fire. So... I guess, I just say if you use an ashtray, I think you'll be fine," Ali Jaffery advised. Lisa Kavana said that she was not a fan. ''Yeah, I noticed that they tasted different, right off the bat, they didn't taste as good. And also if you put it down, you're doing something in your house and you come back, three minutes later it's out. You have to re-light it, and that makes it taste bad too. So, I personally, I don't like it," Kavana said. According to the National Fire Protection Association, the new regulations for LIP cigarettes have not affected the overall cost of cigarettes. The Commission estimates the cost is around 0.01 to 0.02 euro cents per packet. Back in Europe, the EU Office of British American Tobacco (BAT) has been involved in talks with the European Commission. The group and the industry in general back the EU plan but have asked to be given enough time to adapt to the new legislation. BAT welcomes the fact that Europe is considering adopting a standard similar to the one already used in the United States and Canada. But it says more is needed to make smoking safer, including consumer education programs, mandatory fire detectors and a restricted use of the most flammable fabrics for bedding and linen. ''I mean, you need to consider that obviously it's, the product if used as intended will will be able to ignite something, it burns. Our particular concern in this case is that consumers when they are faced with what they might consider a fire-safe product, ie the modified product that will extinguish, would be a bit more careless in in handling and in in disposing of the cigarettes and it might have a counter-result than what would be intended,'' Cynthia Fuerste, BAT Corporate Affairs Manager Europe, indicated. The European Commission hopes to present the law making self-extinguishing cigarettes mandatory across the EU bloc in November this year and it would certainly take another two to three years before the statute comes into effect.

ITN Source | July 28, 2007

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