Press Release: Consumers: Member States endorse Commission plans to target cigarette fire risks

EU Member States have endorsed European Commission plans to draw up proposals for a standard to combat the leading cause of home fire fatalities each year. The new standard will also target forest fires. It will require tobacco companies to sell only cigarettes which have a safety requirement in their design so they go out more quickly if left unattended. The decision by Member States in the General Product Safety Committee will start the process of bringing the European Union in line with many other leading industrial economies which are in the process of making the same requirements obligatory for tobacco companies. Since New York introduced this requirement for the first time in the US in 2004, 22 US states have signed similar legislation to come into force at latest by 2010, and 11 more have filed legislation. In Canada, legislation setting out safety requirements for cigarettes has been in force since October 2005, and Australia is preparing to introduce very similar laws The European Commission will take a formal decision on the mandate for a standard in Spring 2008.

European Commission: MEMO/07/529: Questions and Answers on Home Fire Safety http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/07/529&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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