14. July 2006 European Commission Decision on child-resistant lighters and novelty lighters.

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 all novelty lighters

Member States shall take the necessary measures 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.

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. As of the same date referred to in paragraph 1 above, Member States shall prohibit the placing on the market of novelty lighters.

It is expected that there will be a two-stage removal of non-child-resistant disposable lighters and all child-appealing novelty lighters from the market. The current Decision requires the placing on the market of ‘non-compliant’ lighters to be prevented from the 11^th March 2007. It is expected that a subsequent Decision will further prohibit the supply of ‘non-compliant’ lighters to consumers from the 11^th March 2008. This allows a twelve-month window for businesses to clear non-compliant stock.

Two technical standards relate to the safety of lighters:

The European and International Standard EN ISO 9994:2002 ‘Lighters — Safety Specification’, which establishes specifications on quality, reliability and safety of the lighters combined with appropriate manufacturing test procedures and the European standard EN 13869:2002 ‘Lighters — Child-resistance for lighters — Safety requirements and test methods’, which establishes child-resistance specifications.

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.

Lighters for which producers and distributors do not provide the documentation

within the deadline fixed by the competent authorities, shall be withdrawn from the market.

Alumnus:

During the last couple of years Alumnus has been working to prepare themselves for the European Union enforcing use of “child-resistant” device on all disposable lighters sold into the European market.

This enforcement came into power with the publishing of the Corrigendum to Commission Decision of 11 May 2006.

Today all our disposal lighters are supplied with a “child-resistant” device that fully conforms to both EN ISO 9994:2002 and EN 13869:2002 regulation and standards.

After corporation with laboratories from ILAC, Governmental organisation and the European commission we are today able to deliver child resistant product conforming to the regulations and standards set by the Commission for the European market.

A copy of the published Commission Decision of 14 July 2006 can be mailed on request.