EU stubs out in favour of 'fire-safer' cigarettes

EU member states have agreed to adopt commission plans that will require tobacco companies to sell only ‘fire-safer’ cigarettes.

Two member states allegedly voted against the plans, which commission sources put down to a powerful cigarette lobby.

Consumer protection commissioner Meglena Kuneva said the plan, agreed on Thursday, would "strengthen the safety of EU citizens" and called it "a simple but meaningful measure on the ground".

"Clearly it is better not to smoke at all, but if people choose to smoke then requiring tobacco companies to make this small technical change is another step in the right direction," she said.

Data from 14 EU member states shows that cigarettes cause around 11,000 fires every year, with 520 deaths and 1600 injuries. According to the US national fire protection agency, senior citizens are four times more likely to die than other Americans.

"Unfortunately, fire does discriminate," said former chief of the London fire brigade Sir Ken Knight, and it is the most vulnerable who are more likely to die. But, he added, these new moves could save up to 1000 lives in Europe every year and prevent 11,000 injuries.

A 2006 joint research centre study on forest fires shows that discarded cigarettes and matches accounted for 31.7 per cent of unintentional fires in Italy last year. Forest fires in Europe last summer were some of the worst on record.

A fire-safer cigarette works by wrapping it with two to three bands of thickened paper, which slows its burning. If it is left unattended, the burning tobacco will soon hit one of the bands of paper and go out.

Cigarettes and lighted tobacco products are the leading cause of fire deaths and the third leading cause of fire-related injuries in the US. Fire-safer cigarettes have been in use in New York for three years. By 2010, says Kuneva, half of US states will have imposed these standards.

"Europe lags behind where we should be the standard-bearer," she said.

She added that the plans would entail a small technical change for a minimum cost, and defended accusations that the move was an example of over-regulation and that it would drive up prices.

"This is not about smoking," she said, "But about human health. Whatever we can do to save lives we should do."

Socialist MEP Arlene McCarthy said, "This has worked in other countries, why can’t we do it in Europe?"

McCarthy said that although blanket smoking bans in pubs was a good thing, they were probably driving up the incidence of house fires caused by cigarettes.

"There is no such thing as a safe cigarette.” She said, "But we have to face up to the reality that some people will continue to smoke. The more smoking bans, the more people will smoke at home."

She also drew attention to the fact that smoking not only causes injury and death, but also some €13m worth of damages a year.

Kuneva said that drafting the new rules would take up to two years but that work is underway. She added that there may be a transition period for manufacturers.

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