Article 6

Member States shall take the necessary measures to comply with this Decision within four months from the date of notification of this Decision and publish those measures. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.

This Decision shall be applicable until 12 months from the date of notification of this Decision.

On the basis of the experience acquired and progress made in view of a permanent measure, the Commission shall decide whether to prolong for additional periods the validity of this Decision, whether the Decision, in particular Articles 1(1), 1(3) and 4, should be amended and whether the suspension in Article 5 should be lifted. In particular, for Article 1(3), the Commission shall decide whether other international standards or national rules or standards or other technical specifications, in particular specifications concerning alternative methods or criteria to establish child-resistance of lighters, may be recognised as being equivalent to the child-resistance requirement established by this Decision. The decisions referred to in this paragraph shall be taken in accordance with Article 15(2) of Directive 2001/95/EC.

Within the framework of activities referred to in Article 10 of Directive 2001/95/EC on general product safety the Commission will, in advance of the deadline for the implementation of this Decision by the Member States, establish guidelines with the aim of facilitating the practical application of the Decision.