Ohio Code 3739.12 – Exemption for out-of-state stamping or packaging
(A) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit any person or entity from manufacturing or selling cigarettes that do not meet the requirements specified in this chapter if the cigarette’s packaging is or will be stamped for sale in another state or is packaged for sale outside of the United States, and that person or entity has taken reasonable steps to ensure that those cigarettes will not be sold or offered for sale to persons located in this state.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 3739.12
- Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
- Manufacturer: means either of the following:
(1) Any entity or the entity's successor that, in any location, manufactures or otherwise produces cigarettes, or causes cigarettes to be manufactured or produced, that the entity intends to be sold in this state, including, but not limited to, cigarettes intended to be sold in the United States through an importer;
(2) Any entity or the entity's successor that meets both of the following criteria:
(a) Purchases cigarettes, in any location, from a second entity that manufactures or otherwise produces cigarettes in any location when that second entity does not intend that the cigarettes it manufactures be sold in the United States;
(b) Intends to resell the cigarettes described in division (D)(2)(a) of this section in the United States. See Ohio Code 3739.01
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- United States: includes all the states. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Wholesale dealer: means either of the following persons:
(1) A person, other than a manufacturer, who sells cigarettes to retail dealers or other persons for purposes of resale;
(2) A person who owns, operates, or maintains one or more cigarette vending machines upon premises owned or occupied by any other person. See Ohio Code 3739.01
(B) The requirements of sections 3739.02 to 3739.10 of the Revised Code shall not prohibit a wholesale dealer or retail dealer of cigarettes from selling the dealer’s inventory of cigarettes in existence on or after the effective date of this section if the dealer establishes both of the following:
(1) That the state tax stamps were affixed to the cigarettes prior to the effective date of this section;
(2) That the inventory that was purchased prior to the effective date of this section is comparable in quantity to the inventory purchased during the same period of the prior year.
(C) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit the sale of cigarettes solely for the purpose of consumer testing. For purposes of this division, “consumer testing” means an assessment of cigarettes that is conducted by a manufacturer or under the control and direction of a manufacturer for the purpose of evaluating consumer acceptance of such cigarettes, utilizing only the quantity of cigarettes that is reasonably necessary for such assessment.