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EU to insist on fire-safe cigarettes
EU to insist on fire-safe cigarettes
Friday November 30, 2007
EU member states on Thursday endorsed plans to allow only fire-safe cigarettes to be sold in Europe, a move which could take two or three years to come into force.
The 27 EU nations approved a European Commission proposal which would require the tobacco industry to use fire-retardant paper in all cigarettes in order to cut down on the number of sometimes fatal fires which dropped cigarettes cause each year.
EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Kuneva stressed that "clearly it is better not to smoke at all".
But as people choose to smoke "requiring tobacco companies to make this small technical change is another step in the right direction towards reducing some of the terrible damage that can be caused, both to the environment, and for some of the most vulnerable consumers in their own homes."
The decision by the EU nations starts the process of bringing the European Union in line with some other leading industrial economies which are taking similar action.
AFP
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