Cal. BPC § 22979 — California Code / Code bpc / Division 8.6 / Chapter 4 / Section 22979
Section 22979
Status: in_force

(a) Every manufacturer and every importer shall obtain and maintain a license to engage in the sale of cigarettes. In order to be eligible for obtaining and maintaining a license under this division, a manufacturer or importer shall do all of the following in the manner specified by the board:

(1) Submit to the board a list of all brand families that they manufacture or import.

(2) Update the list of all brand families that they manufacture or import whenever a new or additional brand is manufactured or imported, or a listed brand is no longer manufactured or imported.

(3) Consent to jurisdiction of the California courts for the purpose of enforcement of this division, Sections 104555 to 104557, inclusive, of the Health and Safety Code, Section 30165.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, and appoint a registered agent for service of process in this state and identify the registered agent to the board and the Attorney General.

(4) Waive any sovereign immunity defense that may apply to any enforcement action brought by the Attorney General or the board to enforce this division, Sections 104555 to 104557, inclusive, of the Health and Safety Code, or Part 13 (commencing with Section 30001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, and regulations adopted thereto. Any waiver shall be express and in writing, in a form and manner acceptable to the Attorney General. In lieu of this waiver, a manufacturer or importer may file with the Attorney General a surety bond in a form and manner directed by the Attorney General, written in favor of the State of California and conditioned on the performance by the manufacturer or importer of all its duties and obligations under this division, Sections 104555 to 104557, inclusive, of the Health and Safety Code, Part 13 (commencing with Section 30001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, and regulations adopted thereto. The bond shall be posted by a corporate surety located within the United States in an amount equal to the greater of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or the amount of escrow the manufacturer or importer in either its current or predecessor form was required to deposit as a result of the largest of its most recent five calendar years’ sales in California. The bond may be drawn upon by the Attorney General to cover unsatisfied escrow obligations, tax obligations, claims for penalties, claims for monetary damages, and any other liabilities that are subject to the licensee’s claim of sovereign immunity against enforcement of the laws specified above. In the event a nonparticipating manufacturer is required to post a surety bond under this paragraph, the amount of the bond shall be reduced by the amount of any surety bond that is in force and required of that nonparticipating manufacturer under paragraph (5) of subdivision (c) of Section 30165.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code. A manufacturer or importer that has neither waived any sovereign immunity defense nor posted a surety bond as provided in this section shall not be eligible to obtain and maintain a license under this division.

(b) In order to be eligible for obtaining and maintaining a license under this division, a manufacturer or importer that is a “tobacco product manufacturer” in subdivision (i) of Section 104556 of the Health and Safety Code, shall do all of the following in the manner specified by the board:

(1) Certify to the board that it is a “participating manufacturer” as defined in subsection II(jj) of the “Master Settlement Agreement” (MSA), or is in full compliance with paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 104557 of the Health and Safety Code, Section 30165.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, and regulations adopted pursuant thereto. Any person who makes a certification pursuant to this subdivision that asserts the truth of any material matter that he or she knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment of up to one year in the county jail, or a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both the imprisonment and the fine.

(2) Submit to the board a list of all brand families that fit under the category applicable to the manufacturer or importer, in accordance with the following:

(A) Brand families that are to be counted, in the unit volume and market shares determined pursuant to subsections II(z) and II(mm) of the MSA and Exhibit E thereto, in calculating the manufacturer’s annual payments under the MSA.

(B) Brand families that are to be counted in calculating the manufacturer’s escrow deposits under paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 104557 of the Health and Safety Code.

(C) The manufacturer or importer shall update the list whenever a new or additional brand is manufactured or imported or a listed brand is no longer manufactured or imported.

(c) The board may not grant or permit the maintenance of a license to any manufacturer or an importer of cigarettes that does not affirmatively certify, both at the time the license is granted and annually thereafter, compliance with paragraph (4) of subdivision (a), that all packages of cigarettes manufactured or imported by that person and distributed in California fully comply with subdivision (b) of Section 30163 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, and that the cigarettes contained in those packages are the subject of filed reports that fully comply with all requirements of the federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1331 et seq.) for the reporting of ingredients added to cigarettes. For purposes of the federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act requirement, cigars weighing three pounds or less per 1,000 are excluded from the definition of cigarette.

(d) A license issued to a manufacturer or an importer under this division is only valid with respect to the manufacturer or importer designated on the license and may not be transferred or assigned to another manufacturer or importer.

(e) Any manufacturer or importer that is issued a license under this division that does not commence business in the manner specified or designated in the license, ceases to do business in the manner specified or designated in the license, or is notified that the license is suspended or revoked, shall immediately surrender that license to the board.

(f) (1) Any manufacturer or any importer who is denied a license may petition for a redetermination of the board’s denial of the license within 30 days after service upon that manufacturer or that importer of the notice of the denial of the license. If a petition for redetermination is not filed within the 30-day period, the determination of denial becomes final at the expiration of the 30-day period.

(2) Every petition for redetermination shall be in writing and shall state the specific grounds upon which the petition is founded. The petition may be amended to state additional grounds at anytime prior to the date on which the board issues its order or decision upon the petition for redetermination.

(3) If the petition for redetermination is filed within the 30-day period, the board shall reconsider the determination of the denial and, if the manufacturer or the importer has so requested in the petition, shall grant an oral hearing and shall give the manufacturer or the importer at least 10 days’ notice of the time and place of the hearing. The board may continue the hearing from time to time as may be necessary.

(4) The order or decision of the board upon a petition for redetermination becomes final 30 days after mailing of notice thereof.

(g) In any action brought by the Attorney General or the board to enforce this division, Sections 104555 to 104557, inclusive, of the Health and Safety Code, Part 13 (commencing with Section 30001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, or regulations adopted thereto, including, but not limited to, an action to suspend or revoke a license issued under this section, if the licensee raises a sovereign immunity defense with respect to an aspect of that proceeding, the license in question shall be subject to revocation. In the event of a revocation under this subdivision, the person whose license has been revoked shall not be eligible for a license under this section in the future, unless that person agrees to waive any sovereign immunity defense that may apply to an enforcement action brought by the Attorney General or the board to enforce this division, Sections 104555 to 104557, inclusive, of the Health and Safety Code, Part 13 (commencing with Section 30001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, or regulations adopted thereto. The Attorney General shall inform the board in the event a sovereign immunity defense is raised by a licenseholder.