Montana Code 16-11-504. Directory of cigarettes approved for stamping and sale
16-11-504. Directory of cigarettes approved for stamping and sale. (1) Not later than July 16, 2003, the attorney general shall develop and publish on the attorney general’s website a directory listing all tobacco product manufacturers that have provided current and accurate certifications conforming to the requirements of 16-11-503 and all brand families that are listed in the certifications, except as otherwise provided in this section.
Terms Used In Montana Code 16-11-504
- Brand family: means all styles of cigarettes sold under the same trademark and differentiated from one another by means of additional modifiers or descriptors, including but not limited to "menthol" "lights" "kings" and "100s" and includes any use of a brand name (alone or in conjunction with any other word), trademark, logo, symbol, motto, selling message, recognizable pattern of colors, or any other indicia of product identification identical or similar to or identifiable with a previously known brand of cigarettes. See Montana Code 16-11-502
- Contraband: means :
(i)any tobacco product possessed, sold, offered for sale, distributed, held, owned, acquired, transported, imported, or caused to be imported in violation of this part;
(ii)any cigarette or roll-your-own tobacco that is possessed, sold, offered for sale, distributed, held, owned, acquired, transported, imported, or caused to be imported in violation of part 4 or 5;
(iii)any cigarettes that bear trademarks that are counterfeit under state or federal trademark laws;
(iv)any cigarettes bearing false or counterfeit insignia or tax stamps from any state; or
(v)any cigarettes or tobacco products that violate 16-10-306. See Montana Code 16-11-102
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Directory: means the tobacco product directory as provided in 16-11-504. See Montana Code 16-11-102
- Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
- Manufacturer: means any person who fabricates tobacco products from raw materials for the purpose of resale. See Montana Code 16-11-102
- Nonparticipating manufacturer: means any tobacco product manufacturer that is not a participating manufacturer. See Montana Code 16-11-502
- Qualified escrow fund: has the meaning provided in 16-11-402. See Montana Code 16-11-502
- Retailer: means a person, other than a wholesaler, who is engaged in the business of selling tobacco products to the ultimate consumer. See Montana Code 16-11-102
- sell: means any transfer of tobacco products for consideration, exchange, barter, gift, offer for sale, or distribution in any manner or by any means. See Montana Code 16-11-102
- Tobacco product: means cigarettes and all other products containing tobacco that are intended for human consumption or use. See Montana Code 16-11-102
- Tobacco product manufacturer: has the meaning provided in 16-11-402. See Montana Code 16-11-502
- Wholesaler: means a person that is authorized to affix tax insignia to packages or other containers of cigarettes under 16-11-113, a person that is required to remit the tobacco tax imposed on cigarettes pursuant to 16-11-111, or a person that is required to remit the tobacco tax imposed on other tobacco products under 16-11-111(7). See Montana Code 16-11-502
(2)The attorney general may not include or retain in the directory the name or brand families of any nonparticipating manufacturer that has failed to provide the required certification or whose certification the attorney general determines is not in compliance with 16-11-503, unless the attorney general has determined that the violation has been cured to the satisfaction of the attorney general.
(3)Neither a tobacco product manufacturer nor a brand family may be included or retained in the directory if the attorney general concludes, in the case of a nonparticipating manufacturer that:
(a)an escrow payment required pursuant to 16-11-403 for any period for any brand family, whether or not listed by the nonparticipating manufacturer, has not been fully paid into a qualified escrow fund governed by a qualified escrow agreement that has been approved by the attorney general; or
(b)an outstanding final judgment, including interest on the judgment, for a violation of 16-11-403 has not been fully satisfied for the brand family or the manufacturer.
(4)The attorney general shall update the directory as necessary in order to correct mistakes and to add or remove a tobacco product manufacturer or brand family to keep the directory in conformity with the requirements of this part. The attorney general shall post in the directory and transmit by electronic mail and certified mail, return receipt requested, to each wholesaler notice of the intended removal from the directory of a tobacco product manufacturer or brand family no less than 30 days prior to the removal. During that period, cigarettes of the tobacco product manufacturer or brand family subject to the notice are contraband under 16-11-147 and the affixing of tax insignia to or the sale or possession for sale of the cigarettes is unlawful as provided in 16-11-505, except that, notwithstanding the provisions of 16-11-147 and 16-11-505:
(a)a wholesaler may affix tax insignia to, possess for sale, or sell at wholesale cigarettes of any tobacco product manufacturer or brand family subject to notice of removal under this subsection (4) if the cigarettes were shipped to the wholesaler on or before the date of issuance of the notice and if the total number of the cigarettes sold by the wholesaler following issuance of the notice of removal and prior to reinstatement of the tobacco product manufacturer or brand family in the directory does not exceed a number that is the average of the number of cigarettes of the tobacco product manufacturer or brand family sold by the wholesaler during each of the 3 months preceding the issuance of the notice; and
(b)a licensed seller at retail may possess and sell cigarettes of a tobacco product manufacturer or brand family that the attorney general has removed from the directory or that is subject to notice of removal if the cigarettes were lawfully shipped to the retailer before the issuance of the notice of removal or after the issuance of notice of removal but before the attorney general removes the tobacco product manufacturer or brand family from the directory. A contract with a tobacco product manufacturer that has been removed from the directory that purports to require, contemplate, or provide for delivery of cigarettes or tobacco products in any applicable brand family after the date of removal from the directory is not valid or enforceable.
(5)Every wholesaler shall provide and update as necessary an electronic mail address to the attorney general for the purpose of receiving any notifications required by this part. (Certain provisions void on occurrence of contingency–sec. 16, Ch. 397, L. 2003–see part compiler’s comment.)