New rules on safety of disposable lighters

The Ministry for Competitiveness and Communications, through the Consumer and Industrial Goods Directorate of the Malta Standards Authority, has drafted a set of regulations concerning the safety of disposable cigarette lighters.

These lighters are deemed inherently dangerous especially if misused by children, since they produce a flame and contain a flammable fluid.

The proposed regulations transpose last May's Commission Decision 2006/502/EC which require member states to ensure that in the near future disposable cigarette lighters are child-resistant when placed on the EU market. A lighter is child-resistant when it complies with the specifications of standard MSA EN 13869:2002.

The Lighters Regulations, 2006 will prohibit the placing on the market of lighters which resemble objects that are appealing to children, such as toys, so called "novelty lighters".

These present a high risk of misuse. Children may play with them and cause fires, injuries or deaths.

The regulations exclude luxury and semi-luxury lighters, which are subject to the general safety requirements of the General Product Safety Directive 2005/95/EC, as transposed locally by the Product Safety Act, 2001 (Cap. 427) and backed up by a specific standard on lighter safety (MSA EN ISO 9994:2000).

Following publication, the Lighters Regulations 2006 will be reviewed every 12 months.