16 CFR 1210 and 16 CFR 1212 Regulations

公司新闻跨境百科法规动态

日期：2026-08-28 点击：133

Safety regulations for lighters fall into two categories: cigarette lighters, which includes disposable and novelty lighters, and multi-purpose lighters. These regulations refer to flame-producing products that operate on fuel and do not include matches.

Cigarette lighters are intended to ignite cigarettes, cigars, and pipes, although it may be used to light other materials as well. A disposable lighter is one that uses a gas such as butane, isobutane, propane, or another form of liquefied hydrocarbon under pressure and cannot be refilled. These lighters typically have a Customs Valuation or ex-factory price of under $2.25 (this price is adjusted every 5 years to the nearest $0.25). A novelty lighter refers to lighters that have visual and/or audio features that might make them appealing to a child under 5 years of age. These lighters depict or resemble things such as cartoon characters, toys, guns, watches, musical instruments, vehicles, animals, food, or beverages, and may also produce sound or feature flashing lights. Novelty lighters can operate on any fuel, including butane and liquid fuel.

A multi-purpose lighter is typically used to light items such as candles, fireplaces, grills, camp fires or stoves, lanterns, and pilot lights, or for other applications such as soldering or brazing. These lighters also operate on fuel and use an ignition mechanism.

In order for a cigarette or multi-purpose lighter to be considered child resistant, at least 85% of the children tested must be unable to successfully operate the lighter.

To ensure safety while testing lighters with children, surrogate lighters are used. A surrogate lighter has the same function, size, weight, and appearance as a real lighter, but it does not contain fuel. Instead of igniting, the surrogate lighter will produce a sound or visual signal to let the tester know that it was operated correctly and would have caused a real lighter to produce a flame.

Summary of Testing Protocol

A full description of the cigarette and multi-purpose lighter testing protocol summarized below and additional manufacturer requirements can be found in 16 CFR 1210 and 16 CFR 1212.

Child Testing Protocol

Each test is made up of 1 to 2 panels of 100 children between the ages of 42 and 51 months.

Panels are divided into 3 groups according to age:

30% between the ages of 42 and 44 months

40% between the ages of 45 and 48 months

30% between the ages of 49 and 51 months

Approximately 2/3 of the children in each of the age groups must be boys.

All children must be healthy with no disabilities or injuries that could potentially affect their ability to test the lighter.

Children may not participate in both cigarette and multi-purpose lighter testing or package testing in the same day.

Children are tested in pairs in a room that is well-lit, free of distractions, and is familiar to them, or in a central location in which they feel comfortable, by a tester who administers the test to no more than 20% of the sample.

To begin, the tester operates a surrogate lighter in the presence of the children who are to be tested without letting them see how it was operated so they will know what sound or visual signal the lighter makes when operated correctly. Each child is then given a surrogate lighter and asked to try to make the same sound or visual signal. The children are allotted 5 minutes to try to operate the lighter correctly. The tester uses a stopwatch to keep track of the time.

If a child is able to operate the lighter successfully, the test is counted as a failure and he or she is not tested further. If the second child has not been able to operate the lighter successfully at this point, they are allowed to continue for the remainder of the allotted test period.

If a child (or children) is unable to correctly operate the lighter within the allotted 5 minutes, the tester demonstrates how to do so. The child is then given an additional 5 minutes to try again. If the child is able to operate the lighter within this period, this is also counted as a failure.

Pass/Fail Criteria:

A test is determined a failure if the child is able to produce the sound or visual signal by correctly operating the surrogate lighter.

For a lighter to pass in the first panel of 100 children, 10 or fewer must have been able to operate the surrogate lighter. Conversely, if 19 or more children operate the surrogate lighter successfully, the lighter fails. In both cases, no further testing is necessary.

In the first panel of 100 children, if 11-18 operate the surrogate lighter successfully, a second panel of 100 children must be tested. In the event that the second panel is tested, the lighter fails if 31 or more of the 200 children tested are able to operate the surrogate lighter successfully.