In 2005, the BIC® Maxi lighter enters the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art of New York (MOMA), at the Department of Architecture & Design.

The BIC® Lighter is recognized as a worldwide leader in producing a safe, reliable flame for millions of consumers every day. In more than 160 countries around the world, BIC has sold more than 15 billion lighters.

Since BIC began manufacturing lighters 35 years ago, we have developed and perfected the strictest quality and safety standards in order to give our consumers the best performing lighters in the marketplace. We employ these standards at manufacturing facilities throughout the world.

Each day, BIC produces more than four million lighters worldwide. Quality and safety are built into the production process. BIC's quality assurance criteria for its lighters meet or exceed the lighter safety standards established by the International Standards Organization (ISO), the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and all other government agencies.

Our commitment to quality continues even after each lighter has been machine inspected. Samples from each production run are further examined by quality control technicians on an ongoing basis. In addition, random samples of finished lighters are collected from the marketplace so that a series of ongoing quality assurance tests can be performed.

BIC employees are carefully trained to recognize that quality is essential to the production of safe lighters. BIC employees are directly responsible for the quality control of all BIC® lighters. The average BIC employee in BIC's assembly process spends approximately 25% of his or her time checking quality. In addition, quality assurance technicians at BIC evaluate packaged lighters to assure BIC's high quality and compliance with safety standards.

BIC is proud of its 35-year history of providing safe, reliable lighters to millions of consumers around the world. We continue to invest in the latest technology to maintain our position as a worldwide leader in lighters.