By Rod McGuirk
Canberra, Australia - Australian officials said on Friday they want to fast-track rules making cigarettes less likely to ignite fires as part of the government's response to this month's wildfires that killed at least 209 people.
It is not known if smoldering butts were responsible for causing any of the more than 400 fires that ripped across southern Victoria state, but research shows they are one of many factors blamed for previous blazes.
The February 7 disaster was one of Australia's worst, destroying more than 1 800 homes as the fires scorched 1 500 square miles (3 900 square kilometres) of forests and farms. More than 7 000 people were displaced.
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Parliament in September passed laws that require cigarette makers to change the paper and chemical additives used in their products so they will stop burning quickly once discarded, but they are not due to take effect until March 2010.
Consumer affairs minister Chris Brown wants to speed up the implementation, his spokesperson James Cullen said.
Laws requiring so-called "fire-safe" cigarettes have come into effect in most US states since 2004, as well as in Canada, and Britain is considering introducing similar rules, according to an Australian government report on the new regulations.
Australia's largest cigarette manufacturer, British American Tobacco Australia Ltd, said companies need time to switch production under the new rules and that the 2010 start date in Australia was a compromise set by the government in consultation with the tobacco industry.
The company would have to discuss any new deadline with the government before commenting on whether it opposed the change, spokesperson Louise Warburton said.
She said her company must introduce new technology to its Sydney factory and import its paper from a different supplier to meet the new standards.
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