2006/498/EC: Commission Decision of  14 July 2006  requiring Member States to take measures to ensure that only lighters which are child-resistant are placed on the market and to prohibit the placing on the market of novelty lighters  (notified under documents number C(2006) 1887 and number C(2006) 1887 COR)   (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2006-07-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European standard, approximation of laws, child, consumer protection, manufactured goods, marketing, non-durable goods, product safety

19.7.2006

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Official Journal of the European Union

L 197/9

II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COMMISSION

COMMISSION DECISION

of 14 July 2006

requiring Member States to take measures to ensure that only lighters which are child-resistant are
placed on the market and to prohibit the placing on the market of novelty lighters

(notified under documents number C(2006) 1887 and number C(2006) 1887 COR)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2006/498/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

the European
Having regard to Directive 2001/95/EC of
the Council of 3 December 2001 on
Parliament and of
general product safety (1), and in particular Article 13 thereof,

to be adopted to deal with the risk
adopted or
concerned; that the risk cannot,
in view of the nature
of the safety issue, be dealt with in a manner compatible
with the degree of urgency of
the case under other
procedures laid down by the specific Community legi-
slation applicable to the products concerned; and that
the risk can be eliminated effectively only by adopting
appropriate measures applicable at Community level, in
order to ensure a consistent and high level of protection
of the health and safety of consumers and the proper
functioning of the internal market.

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Pursuant to Directive 2001/95, producers are obliged to
place only safe products on the market.

that

According to Article 13 of Directive 2001/95/EC, if the
Commission becomes
certain products
aware
risk to the health and safety of
present a serious
consumers,
it may, under certain conditions, adopt a
Decision requiring Member States to take temporary
measures aimed in particular to restrict or make subject
to particular conditions the placing on the market of
to ban their marketing and introduce
such products,
the accompanying measures required to ensure that the
ban is complied with, or to require their withdrawal or
recall from the market.

(3)

Such a Decision is contingent upon the facts
Member States differ

that
significantly on the approach

(1) OJ L 11, 15.1.2002, p. 4.

(4)

(5)

Lighters are products which are inherently hazardous
since they produce a flame or heat and since they
contain a flammable fuel. They pose a serious risk
when being misused by children, which may result in
fires,
the
injuries or even deaths. Taking account of
lighters, the very high
inherently hazardous nature of
number of items placed on the market and the fore-
seeable conditions of use,
the risk
posed by lighters to children’s safety should be dealt
with in relation to their possible use in play by children.

the seriousness of

The serious risk posed by lighters is confirmed by the
available data and information on fires in the EU related
to children playing with lighters. A report published by
the United Kingdom Department of Trade and Industry
in February 1997 entitled ‘European research —
accidents caused by children under five playing with
cigarette lighters and matches’ estimated a total of
about 1 200 fires, 260 injuries and 20 deaths per year
in the EU for 1997. More recent information confirms
that a significant number of serious accidents, including
deaths, are still caused in the EU by children playing with
non-resistant lighters.

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Legislation establishing child-resistance requirements for
lighters equivalent to those set out in this Decision exist
in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States
of America (US). Before setting up the legislation, a
survey was launched in the US. The US Consumer
Product Safety Commission’s 1993 proposal for a Regu-
lation for lighters estimated that, per year, lighters used
by children caused more than 5 000 fires, 1 150 injuries
and 170 deaths in the US.

(12)

laid down in specific

There is no specific Community legislation applicable to
lighters. The risk cannot be dealt with effectively under
other procedures
rules of
Community law, taking into account the nature of the
safety problem concerned, and in a manner compatible
with the degree of urgency of the case. It is therefore
necessary to resort to a Decision according to Article 13
of Directive 2001/95/EC.

The US child-resistance requirement was introduced in
1994. In 2002 a US study on the effectiveness of the
requirement reported a 60 % reduction in fires, injuries
and deaths.

(13)

Consultation of the Member States in the Committee
established by Article 15 of Directive 2001/95/EC has
established that Member States differ significantly on
the approach to deal with the risk posed by non-child-
resistant lighters.

(14)

Two technical standards relate to the safety of lighters:
the European and International Standard EN ISO
9994:2002 ‘Lighters — Safety Specification’, which esta-
blishes specifications on quality, reliability and safety of
the lighters combined with appropriate manufacturing
test procedures, but which does not
include child-
resistance specifications, and the European standard EN
13869:2002 ‘Lighters — Child-resistance for lighters —
Safety requirements and test methods’, which establishes
child-resistance specifications.

(10)

Journal of

The references of EN ISO 9994:2002 were published by
the Commission in the Official
the European
Union (1)
in accordance with the procedure laid down
in Article 4 of Directive 2001/95/EC giving presumption
of conformity with the general safety requirement of
Directive 2001/95/EC for
the risks covered by this
standard.
In order to deal with child-resistance, some
Member States considered that the Commission should
publish in the Official Journal also the references of EN
13869:2002. However, other Member States considered
that EN 13869:2002 should first be substantially revised.

(11)

In the absence of Community measures on child-
resistance of lighters and on the prohibition of novelty
some Member States may adopt divergent
lighters
national measures. The introduction of such measures
would inevitably result in an uneven level of protection
and in intra-Community barriers to trade in lighters.

(1) OJ C 100, 24.4.2004, p. 20.

In view of the serious risk from lighters and in order to
ensure a consistent high level of consumer health and
safety protection throughout the EU as well as to avoid
barriers to trade, a temporary Decision in accordance
with Article 13 of Directive 2001/95/EC should be
the
adopted. Such Decision should rapidly make
placing on the market of
to the
condition that
they be child-resistant. Such Decision
should prevent further damages and deaths, pending a
permanent solution which should be based on an inter-
national consensus.

lighters

subject

The child-resistance requirement of this Decision should
cover disposable lighters, because such lighters pose a
particularly high degree of risk of child misuse. A US
study of 1987, ‘Harwood’s study’, demonstrated that on
average 96 % of the accidents caused by children playing
with lighters were due to disposable lighters. Very few
accidents involved lighters other than disposable ones,
namely the so-called luxury and semi-luxury lighters
which are designed, manufactured and placed on the
market such as to ensure a continual expected safe use
over a long period of time, and which are covered by a
written guarantee and benefit from an after-sales service
for replacement or repair of their parts over their life
time, and which are characterised by a sophisticated
design using expensive material, a luxury image and a
low degree of substitutability with other lighters, and a
distribution in outlets in accordance with the prestige
the brand. These results are
and luxury image of
consistent with the fact that people are likely to pay
more attention to higher value lighters intended to be
used for a long time period.

(15) All lighters that resemble by any means to another object
commonly recognised as appealing to or intended for use
by children should be banned. This includes, but is not
limited to, lighters the shape of which resembles cartoon
telephones, musical
characters,
the
instruments, vehicles, human body or parts of
human body, animals, food or beverages, or that play
musical notes, or have
flashing lights or moving
objects or other entertaining features, usually called
‘novelty lighters’, which pose a high risk of misuse by
children.

toys, guns, watches,

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(16)

(17)

it

lighters,

to facilitate the application of

the child-
In order
resistance requirement by producers of
is
appropriate to make reference to the relevant specifi-
cations of the European standard EN 13869:2002, so
that lighters complying with the corresponding specifi-
cations of the national standards which transpose that
European standard are presumed to conform to the
child-resistance requirement of this Decision. With the
same aim, lighters complying with the relevant rules of
the non-EU countries where child-resistance requirements
equivalent to those established by this Decision are in
force should also be presumed to conform to the
child-resistance requirement of this Decision.

requirement

their request of

The consistent and effective enforcement of the child-
resistance
established by this Decision
requires the submission by producers to the competent
authorities at
test reports on child-
resistance delivered by testing bodies accredited by the
accreditation bodies which are members of international
accreditation organisations or otherwise recognised by
to that end or delivered by testing
the authorities
bodies recognised for executing this type of test by the
authorities of the countries where safety requirements
equivalent
to those established by this Decision are
applied. Lighter producers should provide on request
without delay to the competent authorities established
under Article 6 of
the
documents needed. If the producer is unable to provide
such documentation within the delay established by the
competent authority, the lighters should be withdrawn
from the market.

the Directive 2001/95/EC all

(18) According to Article 5(2) of Directive 2001/95/EC distri-
butors should help to ensure compliance of the lighters
they supply with the child-resistance requirement esta-
blished by this Decision.
they should
cooperate with the competent authorities by providing
the documentation needed to trace
them on request
the origin of the lighters.

In particular

(19)

the

technical

constraints

shortest possible

transition periods
application by producers of

should be
The
allowed for
the
measures established by this Decision, consistent with
the need to prevent further accidents while taking into
and ensuring propor-
account
tionality. Transitional periods are also required for the
Member States to ensure that the measures are efficiently
applied, given the high volume of
lighters marketed
annually in the EU and the multiple distribution
channels used for such marketing. Therefore, the obli-
gation for producers
child-resistant
lighters on the market should apply 10 months from
the date of notification of this Decision while the obli-
to
gation to
consumers should apply one year after the entry into
the ban on placing on the market of such
force of
lighters. Therefore,
the latter obligation will be esta-
blished when revising this Decision, one year after its
adoption.

to place only

child-resistant

lighters

supply

only

(20) Article 13(3) of Directive 2001/95/EC prohibits

the market

the structure of

the
export from the Community of the dangerous products
which have been the subject of a Decision. However,
taking into account
for
lighters as regards the number of producers worldwide,
the volume of exports and imports and the globalisation
of markets, an export ban would not improve the safety
of consumers located in Third Countries which do not
apply child-resistance requirements, since the exports
from the EU would be replaced by non-child resistant
lighters from non-EU countries. The application of article
13(3) should therefore be suspended until an interna-
tional
standard on child resistance is adopted. This
should be without prejudice to the application of
child-resistance
measures
requirements are in force.

in third countries where

(21)

The measures provided for
accordance with the opinion of
blished by Article 15 of Directive 2001/95/EC,

in this Decision are in
the Committee esta-

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

For the purposes of this Decision:

1.

‘lighter’ shall mean a manually operated flame-producing
device employing a fuel, normally used for deliberately
igniting in particular cigarettes, cigars and pipes, and which
may foreseeably be used to ignite materials such as paper,
wicks, candles and lanterns, manufactured with an integral
supply of fuel, whether intended to be refuelled or not.

Without prejudice to the prohibition of the placing on the
market of novelty lighters established in Article 2(2) of this
Decision, this definition shall not apply to refillable lighters
for which producers provide on request to the competent
authorities the necessary documentation substantiating that
the lighters are designed, manufactured and placed on the
market such as to ensure a continual expected safe use over
a lifetime of at least five years, subject to repair, and which
fulfill in particular all of the following requirements:

— a written guarantee from the producer of at least two
in accordance with Directive
the

the European Parliament and of

years for each lighter,
1999/44/EC of
Council (1),

— the practical possibility to be repaired and safely refilled
a

including in particular

the

over
entire
repairable ignition mechanism,

lifetime,

(1) OJ L 171, 7.7.1999, p. 12.

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— Parts that are not consumable, but are likely to wear out
or fail
in continual use after the guarantee period, are
accessible for replacement or repair by an authorised or
specialised after-sales
centre based in the
service
European Union;

Article 2

1. Member States shall ensure that only lighters which are
child-resistant are placed on the market as of 10 months from
the date of notification of this Decision.

2.

‘novelty lighter’ shall mean any lighter as defined in specifi-
cation 3.2 of European Standard EN 13869:2002;

As of the same date referred to in paragraph 1 above,
the placing on the market of

2.
Member States shall prohibit
novelty lighters.

3.

‘child-resistant
lighter’ shall mean a lighter designed and
manufactured in such a way that it cannot, under normal
or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use, be operated by
children younger than 51 months of age because of, for
instance, the force needed to operate it or because of its
design or the protection of its ignition mechanism, or the
the
complexity or
ignition.

sequence of operations needed for

Shall be presumed to be child-resistant:

(a)

lighters which conform to national standards transposing
European Standard EN 13869:2002, as far as the speci-
fications other than those in paragraphs 3.1, 3.4 and
5.2.3 of the Standard are concerned;

Article 3

As of 10 months from the date of notification of this
1.
Decision, Member States
require the following from
producers, as a condition for placing lighters on the market:

shall

(a)

to keep and provide on request without delay to the
competent authorities established under Article 6 of the
Directive 2001/95/EC, a report of a child-resistance test
for each model of lighters with samples of the lighters of
the tested model, certifying the child-resistance of the model
of lighters placed on the market;

(b) to attest on request to the competent authorities that all
lighters in each of
the batches placed on the market
conform to the model tested and provide on request to
the authorities
the documentation on the testing and
control programme supporting such an attestation;

(b) lighters which conform to the relevant rules of the non-
EU countries where
requirements
equivalent to those established by this Decision are in
force.

child-resistance

(c)

4.

‘model of lighter’ shall mean lighters from the same producer
that do not differ in design or other characteristics in any
manner that may affect child-resistance;

conformity of

to continuously monitor
lighters
produced with the technical solutions adopted to ensure
child-resistance, using appropriate testing methods and to
maintain at the disposal of the competent authorities the
production records necessary to show that all
lighters
produced conform to the model tested;

the

5.

‘child-resistance test’ shall mean a systematic test of child-
resistance of a given model of lighter, on a sample of the
lighters considered,
in particular tests made in accordance
with national standards transposing European Standard EN
13869:2002, as far as the specifications other than those in
paragraphs 3.1, 3.4 and 5.2.3 of the Standard are concerned,
or
the
in accordance with the testing requirements of
relevant rules of non-EU countries where child-resistance
requirements
this
Decision are in force;

established by

equivalent

to those

6.

‘producer’ shall have the meaning as defined in Article 2(e)
of Directive 2001/95/EC;

(d) to keep and provide on request without delay to the
competent authorities a new report of a child-resistance
test if any changes are made to a model of lighter that
may adversely affect the ability of the model to meet the
requirements of this Decision.

2.
As of 10 months from the date of notification of this
Decision, Member States shall require distributors to keep and
provide without delay to the competent authorities on request
the documentation necessary to identify any person from whom
they have been supplied with the lighters they place on the
market, in order to ensure traceability of the producer of the
lighters throughout the supply chain.

7.

‘distributor’ shall have the meaning as defined in Article 2(f)
of Directive 2001/95/EC.

3.
Lighters for which producers and distributors do not
provide the documentation mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 2
above within the deadline fixed by the competent authorities,
shall be withdrawn from the market.

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Article 4

Reports of a child-resistance test referred to in Article 3

1.
shall include in particular:

For information purposes, a list of the bodies referred to in
paragraphs (a) and (b) above will be published and updated as
necessary by the Commission.

(a)

the name, address and principal place of business of the
manufacturer wherever he is located, and of the importer
if the lighters are imported;

The prohibition referred to in Article 13(3) of Directive
2001/95/EC shall not apply.

Article 5

(b) a complete description of the lighter, including size, shape,
ignition mechanism, and child-
weight, fuel, fuel capacity,
resistance devices, design,
technical solutions and other
features that make the lighter child-resistant in accordance
with the definitions and requirements of this Decision. In
include a detailed description of all
particular this will
force requirements, or other
dimensions,
that
could affect
including
the child-resistance of
the manufacturer’s tolerances for each such feature;

the lighter,

features

(c) a detailed description of

the dates of

the tests and of

the results
obtained,
the location where the
the tests,
tests have been performed, the identity of the organisation
that conducted the tests and details of the qualification and
competence of such organisation to conduct
the tests
concerned;

(d) the identification of the place where the lighters are or have

been manufactured;

(e)

the location where the documentation required by this
Decision is kept;

(f)

references of the accreditation or recognition of the testing
body.

Reports of a child-resistance test referred to in Article 3

2.
shall be established by either:

(a)

testing bodies accredited as fulfilling the requirements esta-
blished by EN ISO/IEC 17025:2005 ‘General requirements
for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories’,
by a member of the International Laboratory Accreditation
Cooperation (ILAC) for executing child-resistance tests on
lighters or otherwise recognised to that end by the
competent authority of a Member State;

(b) testing bodies whose reports of a child-resistance test are
the countries where child-resistance
established by this

equivalent

to those

accepted by one of
requirements
Decision are applied.

Article 6

shall

1. Member States
to
comply with this Decision within four months from the date
of notification of this Decision and publish those measures.
They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.

take the necessary measures

This Decision shall be applicable until 12 months from

2.
the date of notification of this Decision.

On the basis of

3.
the experience acquired and progress
made in view of a permanent measure, the Commission shall
decide whether to prolong for additional periods the validity of
this Decision, whether the Decision, in particular Articles 1(1),
1(3) and 4, should be amended and whether the suspension in
Article 5 should be lifted. In particular, for Article 1(3), the
Commission shall decide whether other international standards
or national rules or standards or other technical specifications,
in particular specifications concerning alternative methods or
lighters, may be
criteria
recognised
child-resistance
requirement
this Decision. The decisions
referred to in this paragraph shall be taken in accordance
with Article 15(2) of Directive 2001/95/EC.

as
established by

to establish child-resistance of

equivalent

being

the

to

4. Within the framework of activities referred to in Article
10 of Directive 2001/95/EC on general product safety the
Commission will, in advance of the deadline for the implemen-
this Decision by the Member States, establish
tation of
guidelines with the aim of facilitating the practical application
of the Decision.

Article 7

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 14 July 2006.

For the Commission

Markos KYPRIANOU
Member of the Commission