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A meeting of emergency services ministers in Canberra on Wednesday deliberated upon the need for introducing “fire-proof” cigarettes that get extinguished on their own as the smoker drops the butt, a measure that may help reduce the risk of fires in homes and the bush.
New South Wales (NSW) Emergency Services Minister Nathan Rees moved the resolution to make the reduced fire risk (RFR) cigarettes, which are already produced overseas in Canada and New York, mandatory under the Trade Practices Act as early as next year.
“We hope this will be law by early 2009, requiring all cigarettes manufactured and sold throughout Australia to be self-extinguishing,” the Daily Telegraph quoted him as saying.
“Every day’s delay is another day we live with the risk that someone will be killed or injured or homes or bush land destroyed because cigarettes keep burning when they are dropped or thrown from a car window,” he added.
Each year, around 4500 fires are caused by cigarette ignitions in Australia. Fires, directly attributed to cigarettes, claimed about 65 lives between 2000 and 2005.
A significant decline has resulted in fire deaths in New York since the introduction of RFR cigarettes in New York in 2004, according to preliminary data.
According to NSW Fire Brigades, a normal cigarette dropped on furnishings may start a fire in less than 18 minutes, whereas an RFR cigarette extinguishes on its own.
Rees said that some people in the industry had expressed non-acceptance to the introduction of the RFR cigarette, complaining about costs, difficulties in testing, and compliance and production lead times.
“NSW does not accept that the industry needs an 18-month to two-year time frame to introduce these cigarettes, which are already being produced and sold in Canada and a number of states in the US,” he said.
The newspaper report says that the Australian tobacco industry is concerned that no testing has been done to ensure that the cigarettes do not pose a further risk to smokers’ health.

SMOKERS could soon be lighting up ‘fire-proof’ cigarettes.
The reduced fire risk cigarettes are already produced overseas in Canada and New York and while Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan will need to rubber stamp the motion, a meeting of emergency services ministers committed to the move.
NSW Emergency Services Minister Nathan Rees moved the resolution to make the cigarettes mandatory under the Trade Practices Act as early as next year.
“We hope this will be law by early 2009, requiring all cigarettes manufactured and sold throughout Australia to be self-extinguishing,” he said.
“Every day’s delay is another day we live with the risk that someone will be killed or injured or homes or bushland destroyed because cigarettes keep burning when they are dropped or thrown from a car window.”
In Australia more than 4500 fires each year are caused by cigarette ignitions and 65 people died in fires directly attributed to cigarettes between 2000 and 2005.
Preliminary data from New York, which introduced RFR cigarettes in 2004, showed a significant decline in fire deaths.
NSW Fire Brigades tests showed a normal cigarette dropped on furnishings could start a fire in less than 18 minutes, while an RFR cigarette self-extinguished.
Mr Rees said some sections of the industry had traditionally baulked at such measures as health warnings and smoking bans, complaining about costs, difficulties in testing and compliance and production lead times.
“NSW does not accept that the industry needs an 18-month to two-year time frame to introduce these cigarettes, which are already being produced and sold in Canada and a number of states in the US,” he said.
The Daily Telegraph understands the Australian tobacco industry is concerned that no testing has been done to ensure the cigarettes do not pose a further risk to smokers’ health.

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, gave a cautious welcome to proposals for a further crackdown on smoking which would ban shopkeepers from displaying cigarettes and pubs from having tobacco vending machines. “I think this is worth looking at. As someone who struggled with giving up smoking, it helps if you take away some of the temptation,” he told the BBC.
The Association of Convenience Stores warned that the proposed move to force the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products under the counter would pose practical difficulties and increase costs for shop owners.
The proposals, to be included in a Department of Health consultation later this spring, follow the ban on smoking in public places last July.
Dawn Primarolo, public health minister, said: “It’s vital we get across the message to children that smoking is bad. If that means stripping out vending machines or removing cigarettes from behind the counter, I’m willing to do that.”

As Chancellor Alistair Darling prepares to balance the UK’s books, attention has turned to the other darling of Budget Day - sin taxes. The Conservatives have called for higher taxes on alcopops amid growing concern about drunken behaviour. Are we taxed too heavily on cigarettes and alcohol or not enough? And do we pay more for our sins than our European neighbours?