Cigarettes less likely to burn.

The latest salvo from Canada's four-year-old Federal Tobacco Control Strategy calls for all cigarettes manufactured or sold in Canada to be of a reduced ignition propensity. Bill C-260, an act to amend the Hazardous Products Act, says that as of October 1, 2005, all cigarettes--imported or otherwise, must conform to the Standard Test Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes adopted in 2002 (ASTM E2187-02b). Are the manufacturers ready?

The standard says manufactured cigarettes--which make up 85% of all tobacco products sold in Canada--can burn their full length no more than 25% of the time during 40 replicate tests on 10 layers of filter paper. The test uses standard filter paper as a heat sink, allowing a cigarette to self-extinguish once its coal has cooled. Health Canada chose the 25% standard because it is the strictest standard demonstrated to be achievable over 20 years of research, since a US Congress-mandated study determined that a low-ignition-propensity (LIP) cigarette was commercially feasible.

Under the authority of Canada's Tobacco Act, anyone manufacturing a tobacco product that does not conform to the new standards faces fines of up to $300,000 and imprisonment for up to two years. Compliance would be monitored through sampling and analysis, and targets all cigarettes manufactured or imported in the country.

This method of testing, say critics like John Wildgust, head of corporate affairs at JTI-Macdonald Corp, is misleading. The use of filter paper instead of furniture mock-ups, no crevice testing and no artificial airflow means, "the testing required under the current regulation does not correspond to real-world situations--involving, for example, flammable fabrics or other conditions under which cigarettes may be normally used. We are concerned that consumers may mistakenly believe that these products are 'fire-safe' and...