Safety of lighters

Lighters contain a flammable fuel and produce a flame or heat. They pose a serious risk when used by children. They can cause fires, injuries and even death. Lighters are not toys!

To reduce the risk of accident, the Royal Decree of 15 September 2006 on the safety of lighters stipulates:

the sale of ‘novelty’ lighters is prohibited (they may be regarded as toys);
only lighters equipped with a child safety device can be placed on the market.

Laws and regulations

Obligations for producers and distributors

Information for retailers and consumers

Laws and regulations

To reduce the risk of accident, European regulations transposed into the Royal Decree of 15 September 2006 on the safety of the lighters, stipulates the following:

the supply of ‘novelty’ lighters is prohibited;
only lighters equipped with a child safety device can be placed on the market.

Novelty lighters are lighters that can be attractive to children, regardless of whether they are lit (lighters shaped like toys, guns, vehicles, ‘ordinary’ lighters that play musical notes or flashes, etc.)

All lighters must as a minimum comply with the safety level of standard EN 9994 on the safety of lighters. This standard specifies the requirements a lighter must meet, including the height of the flame, the stability of the flame, its resistance to dropping etc.

Lighters other than (semi-) deluxe lighters must also meet at least a level of safety equivalent to that imposed by the EN-standard EN 13869 on child safety lighters.

These regulations do not apply to (semi-) deluxe lighters because it is assumed that there is little chance of them being used by children. These lighters must, however, comply with the general law of 9 February 1994 on the safety of products and services.

Obligations for producers and distributors

As a producer or distributor, you must fulfil the obligations imposed by the law of 9 February 1994 on the safety of products and services as well as the obligations imposed by specific regulations.

Producers (manufacturers, representatives, importers etc.) and distributors must withdraw from the market all lighters that do not meet the required safety level as soon as possible.

To ensure that a lighter is safe, we advise only distributing or placing on the market lighters for which the producer can present a test report demonstrating the safety of the lighter concerned. It is therefore very important that a ‘link’ can be unequivocally established between the test reports and the lighters concerned. A test report for lighter X is not valid for lighter Y! However a test report does not always guarantee that the lighters distributed come with information for users and warnings in the required languages.

Information for retailers and consumers

Only lighters with a child safety device can be marketed to consumers. ‘Novelty’ lighters are prohibited. These are lighters that can be attractive to children, regardless of whether they are lit (lighters shaped like toys, guns, vehicles, ‘ordinary’ lighters that play musical notes or flashes, etc.).

To check if the lighter you’re buying, or which you own, is safe, you can use our checklist . You will also find a document describing the different types of lighter with illustrations. [Not availble in English]

If you find a non-conformity, you can report this to your distributor and request a test report showing that the lighter is safe. Check for an explicit link between the product and the test report, because a test report for lighter X is not valid for lighter Y!

If checks against the checklist and the test report are not satisfactory, we advise you not to buy this lighter.