The Joint Action on Lighters has seen a couple of cases where very big lighters have been placed on the market by economic operators not taking appropriate precautions. We would like to issue the following information.

The participants in the Joint Action on Lighters (PROSAFE and the market surveillance authorities in 13 European Member States) have found a number of lighter models of extraordinary sizes on the European market. Such lighters are often sold as "XXL lighters", "Giant lighters", "King size lighters", "Jumbo lighters" or similar names. They are shaped like ordinary cigarette lighters. Only the dimensions are much larger.

The Joint Action has noted some uncertainty surrounding the legal requirements that apply to such lighters and wishes to emphasise the following for the benefit of manufacturers, importers and authorities:

• The Member State authorities consider the intended use of such lighters to be the ignition of cigarettes. Therefore they are considered to be cigarette lighters falling under the provisions of Commission Decision 2010/157/EU (published in the Official Journal L 67 of 17 March 2010, p. 9).

· The lighters must be safe. They can be presumed safe if they meet the requirements contained in EN ISO 9994.

· The lighters must be child-resistant. They can be presumed child-resistant if they meet the requirements contained in EN 13869. Please note that in general it is not possible to declare such lighters for child-resistant by cross-reference to a child-resistant normal size cigarette lighter. Differences in size will almost certainly affect the child-resistance properties.

• When transported, such lighters must meet all relevant requirements for transports of dangerous goods, in particular the ADR convention (the European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road), chapter 3.3, special provision 201. It prescribes that the maximum permissible amount of fuel in a lighter is 10 grams.

The Joint Action stresses that such lighters cannot be considered to be utility lighters even though they are longer than 100 mm because of their intended use. Cigarette lighters and utility lighters are distinguished solely based on their intended use and not their size:

• The intended use of a cigarette lighter is to ignite cigarettes, pipes, etc.
• The intended use of a utility lighters is to ignite barbecue grills, candle lights, fireplaces, etc.

The Joint Action is coordinated by PROSAFE, “The Product Safety Enforcement Forum of Europe”, a non-profit organisation that brings together market surveillance officers from all over Europe and across the world. The Joint Action receives co-financing from the European Commission. Visit www.prosafe.org to learn more.

The sole responsibility for the messages conveyed above lies with the authors. The European Commission is not responsible for this information or for any use that may be made of the information.