EU endorses safer cigarettes
Thursday November 29 2007
THE EU's consumer chief is to get the green light today to make all cigarettes sold in the bloc self-extinguishing in a bid to combat thousands of fire-related deaths and injuries.
European Commission officials said a meeting of experts from all 27 EU member states was expected to endorse proposals by Consumer Protection Commissioner Meglena Kuneva to make "fire-safe" cigarettes mandatory across the bloc.
Ms Kuneva believes the cigarettes -- which stop burning automatically after a few seconds if not puffed, due to small gaps in the cigarette paper which cuts the circulation of oxygen -- can hugely reduce the number of deaths from fires in the EU.
"Once she gets their approval, which is expected following talks and negotiations over the past number of months, she will now be able to start implementing her plan," one official at the EU executive said on Wednesday.
Data from 14 of the EU's 27 countries shows that over 2,000 deaths a year are caused by cigarette-related fires, with thousands more people injured and tens of millions of euro worth of damage caused.
Irish MEPs from both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael backed the move.
"There is no doubt that these self-extinguishing cigarettes would reduce the serious fire hazard associated with falling asleep while smoking, or careless disposal of still-burning cigarette butts," Fine Gael's Avril Doyle said.
But Fianna Fail's Brian Crowley joined Doyle in clarifying that neither of them advocated the promotion of cigarettes in general which causes "serious health risks for consumers and passive smokers".
Commission officials have been working on developing an EU-wide standard for the cigarettes, similar to one in the United States and Canada.
Canada introduced legislation in 2005 and a number of US states have followed suit including New York, New Jersey and California, while Australia said it intends to also bring in laws for fire-safe cigarettes.
Previously tobacco firms said chemical additives required for fire-safe cigarettes would cause more damage to smokers and complained that smokers would not like the new taste.
But a spokesman for Philip Morris, maker of top-selling Marlboro and other brands, said his company backed the move in principle.
ANEC, an EU-wide consumers' lobby group for standardisation, said it also supported Kuneva's initiative.
- Darren Ennis in Brussels
