II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3816 

To prohibit the shipment of tobacco products in the mail, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 3, 2006 

Ms. COLLINS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To prohibit the shipment of tobacco products in the mail, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. TOBACCO AS NONMAILABLE MATTER. 

4 Section 3001 of title 39, United States Code, is 

5 amended by inserting after subsection (n) the following: 

6 ‘‘(o)(1) In this section— 

7 ‘‘(A) the terms ‘cigarette’, ‘pipe tobacco’, and 

8 ‘roll-your-own tobacco’ have the meanings given such 

9 terms under section 5702 of the Internal Revenue 

10 Code of 1986; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the term ‘smokeless tobacco’ has the 

2 meaning given such term under section 5702 of the 

3 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and includes any 

4 product containing tobacco that is intended to be 

5 placed in the oral or nasal cavity or otherwise ex6 pected or intended to be consumed without being 

7 combusted; and 

8 ‘‘(C) the term ‘tobacco product’ means ciga9 rettes, pipe tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco and 

10 smokeless tobacco. 

11 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided under subparagraphs (B) 

12 and (C), the shipment in the mails of any tobacco product 

13 for purposes of sale is prohibited, and tobacco products 

14 mailed for such purpose are nonmailable and shall not be 

15 deposited in or carried through the mails. 

16 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall apply only to shipments 

17 deposited in the mails, or addressed to a delivery point, 

18 in a State that is contiguous with at least 1 other State 

19 of the United States. 

20 ‘‘(C) Nothing in subparagraph (A) is intended to pro21 hibit from the mails the shipment of tobacco products sent 

22 for purposes of testing and evaluation or replacement of 

23 defective tobacco products. 

24 ‘‘(D) The Postal Service may by regulation establish 

25 mailing standards to carry out this paragraph. 


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1 ‘‘(3)(A)(i) In addition to any other penalties or fines 

2 provided for by law, any person who violates paragraph 

3 (2) for commercial or for profit purposes shall be liable 

4 to the United States for a civil penalty for a first violation 

5 in the amount of $5,000 or 10 times the estimated retail 

6 value of the tobacco products, including all Federal, State, 

7 and local taxes, whichever is highest, and for a second or 

8 subsequent violation in an amount not to exceed $100,000 

9 for each violation. 

10 ‘‘(ii) In determining the amount of the civil penalty 

11 for second and subsequent violations described under 

12 clause (i), the following factors may be considered: 

13 ‘‘(I) The nature, circumstances, extent, and 

14 gravity of the violation. 

15 ‘‘(II) With respect to the violator, the degree of 

16 culpability, ability to pay, and any history of prior 

17 violations. 

18 ‘‘(III) Such other matters as justice may re19 quire. 

20 ‘‘(B) The Postal Service may determine that a person 

21 has violated paragraph (2) only after notice and an oppor22 tunity for a hearing. Proceedings under this paragraph 

23 shall be conducted in accordance with subsection (m). 

24 ‘‘(C) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an 

25 amount equal to 50 percent of any civil penalties collected 


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1 by the United States Government under subparagraph (A) 

2 shall be directed to the Postal Service for the purpose of 

3 administering and enforcing this subsection. All other 

4 amounts received in payment of any such civil penalties 

5 under subparagraph (A) in any action commenced by the 

6 United States Government shall be deposited as miscella7 neous receipts in the Treasury of the United States.’’. 

Æ 


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