Written question asked by David Amess (Conservative) on Thursday, 15 September 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 10 October 2011. It was answered by Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 10 October 2011 on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Lighters: Safety

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the number of pocket lighters on sale in the UK which do not meet safety requirements; what steps his Department has taken to implement Commission Decision 2006/502/EC; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of such steps in restricting the availability of unsafe pocket lighters.

Answer: The market surveillance of lighters is the responsibility of local authority trading standards services in Great Britain and district councils in Northern Ireland. BIS officials do not formally assess the effectiveness of this market surveillance, however, we are aware that a number of authorities have been taking action in response to concerns from the industry.This Department has not made any recent estimate on the number of pocket lighters on the UK market that do not meet minimum safety standards. However, a press release by the European Federation of Lighter Manufacturers on 22 September estimated that of the 100 million lighters on the UK market up to 79% may be non-compliant. This does not necessarily mean that they are unsafe.Each May since 2006 we have issued a direction to the local authorities to implement Commission Decision 2006/502/EC to ensure that only lighters that are child resistant are placed on the market. I will continue to issue directions until the work on the revised European standard on child resistant lighters has reached the point where it can support consistent enforcement across the EU.

Secondary information