Brussels, Nov 14 – 'Blondes' change their look: from Friday, in fact, all cigarettes in circulation and on sale in the European Union will have to meet the new safety standards required by the EU, and will have to consist of a new special card that allows butts to go out by themselves.
On 17 November the new safety parameters aimed at prevent fires from badly extinguished cigarettes, and from the following day – Friday 18, in fact – all states must be in order. Currently, recalls the European Commission, "only some states" - including Finland and Slovakia - have already adapted to the new measures by introducing the new cigarettes well in advance.
But starting this weekend all states will have to be in compliance, and it will be up to individual member states to make sure that the new directives are current. The new standards, stressed at the press conference Frederic Vincent, spokesman for the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, John Dalli, they only concern cigarettes, and they do not concern cigars.
The new measures had become necessary to reduce the damage caused by fires resulting from the butts thrown by 'careless' smokers. The EU had in fact calculated that between 2003 and 2008, unextinguished butts had caused an average of more than 30.000 fires a year in the European Union, causing nearly over 1.000 fatalities and more than 4.000 injuries a year.
So in 2008, to put a stop to the phenomenon, it was decided to introduce i new safety standards. In essence, the tobacco industry was asked to use a special paper along which two rings are placed. If the cigarette is left burning, the tobacco will stop burning once it gets to one of these rings. The joint is actually a bottleneck that prevents the circulation of oxygen, and the absence of oxygen prevents combustion.
The EU Commission has estimated that with these new cigarettes the number of butt fires could be reduced by over 40%, as demonstrated by the Finnish case (-43% of fires since the new cigarettes were marketed). Satisfied with European Commissioner Dalli, he let his spokesman know. “There is nothing better than a safe cigarette other than not smoking at all”Frederic Vincent reported. With the entry into the market of the new 'blondes' "thousands of citizens throughout Europe will be protected".
