Unsafe novelty lighters withdrawn from the local market

Recently, the MCCAA found a number of novelty lighters on the Maltese market. A novelty lighter is a lighter that has a feature which makes it more appealing to children. One of the properties of a novelty lighter is its shape as seen in the attached pictures. Furthermore, lighters that produce either light or sound are also considered as novelty lighters.

Novelty lighters are banned from the European market including the Maltese market because of the serious risk posed to consumers, especially to young children, because of their added appeal and play value which may result in burns to the face or to other parts of the body. Such a risk was deemed so problematic that the European Commission issued decision 2006/502/EC banning these products from the European Union markets.

In view of this, consumers should refrain from using such lighters and return them to the place of purchase. Economic operators are ordered to refrain from selling or in any way placing these products on the market. Further enforcement action, as envisaged by law, will be taken by the MCCAA against those economic operators who continue to place these products on the market.

All lighters on the Maltese market need to be of a certain level of safety. To ensure this, lighters need to adhere to two main standards. Standard EN ISO 9994:2006, which takes care of the physical properties of the lighter, and EN 13869:2016, which specifies the child safety properties the lighter needs to have. Importers are responsible to check that lighters placed on the market are compliant with these standards.

For any queries on lighters or any safety properties of non-food products found on the market place in Malta, one may contact the MCCAA on 23952000 or on [email protected].