2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 16. Alcohol, Tobacco, and Marijuana › Chapter 11. Taxation of Tobacco Products › Part 5. Tobacco Products Reserve Fund -- Enforcement › 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.
(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.)
History: En. Sec. 4, Ch. 397, L. 2003.