An international consumer watchdog warned today that proposals to lower standards for plastic condoms could set back the global fight against Aids.

The warning came as more than 100 International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) delegates from 30 countries began a week-long meeting here to discuss a global standard for synthetic condoms.

London-based Consumers International said it feared decisions made in Kuala Lumpur could "seriously harm global efforts to curb Aids" as manufacturers were likely to push for lower standards, which would in turn limit the safety of the condoms.

Plastic condom makers were "seeking an unacceptably low standard" with proposals for an acceptable condom breakage rate of five percent, compared with 1.5 percent for latex condoms, it said.

"The standards for synthetic condoms must be as stringent as those for latex condoms," the watchdog's director general Julian Edwards said in a statement.

"If a breakage rate of five percent became the norm, more than a million extra exposures to Aids and unwanted pregnancies would occur every single day."

Developed originally as an option for men and women suffering from latex allergies, plastic condoms currently represent a small fraction of some 10 billion condoms used worldwide each year.

There are no international standards for plastic condoms and Consumers International says setting low standards could boost sales or lead to a similar lowering of standards for latex condoms.

Premature fears

But Eli Carter, chairman of the ISO working group, said such fears were "way too premature" as the meeting was merely an avenue for the exchange of ideas and opinions.

He said once a draft proposal was completed, it must be approved by at least 75 percent of ISO members to be passed as an international standard.

"It will be at least another two years before there is a standard that will be used worldwide," he told AFP .

"I'm almost certain that it won't be a lesser standard (than that of latex condoms) because one of our emphases is to protect the consumers, certainly against Aids."

The Kuala Lumpur meeting coincides with the world's biggest Aids conference which kicked off Monday in the Spanish city of Barcelona. -AFP